Iron Maidens
by Wolf of the Aurora
Summary: A new war is raging. This time it isn't fought between countries. It isn't fought between humans. It is a fight for the survival of humanity against a fleet from the abyss. And humanity's best chance lay in the hands of warriors from the past. The spirits of these steel bodied warriors will be called upon to fight once again to send the Fleet of the Abyss back to the depths.
1. A New Life

**A/N: With all the compliments and positive feedback from my first Kantai Collection fiction, _A New Life_ , I decided to write a continuation for that story. This first chapter is basically a rewrite of _A New Life_ but has a couple changes and a lot added on. Now without further ado, let's get started!**

 **PS: Happy Independence Day to any viewers in the United States!**

* * *

Iron Maidens

-1-

A New Life

 _Who are they?_

 _What do they want?_

 _Where do they come from?_

 _By the start of the second decade of the 21st century, the ocean levels have risen due to melting glaciers, land reclamation, and other factors. As if it was a queue, a mysterious fleet appeared in the eastern Pacific Ocean. They were quickly dubbed the 'Shinkaisei-kan', or 'Abyssals' by the Japanese._

 _From destroyers to super dreadnaughts, the facade of the Abyssals range from great monstrosities to the most innocent looking girl. The most common appearance is that of a young woman._

 _This new threat slowly began to cut and disrupt communications and shipping routes which caused discomfort in developed countries and disorder in undeveloped countries._

 _To prevent the Abyssals from doing any further damage, the Japanese fought back with every piece of equipment they've got but were quickly crushed._

 _And just when all hope seemed lost, a small light illuminated the darkness._

 _Souls._

 _The souls of old warships._

 _The souls that lay dormant for so long have finally awoken and were reborn as young women. Wearing special gear and equipment, these 'Kanmusus' or 'Ship Girls' were able to take to the seas and bring the fight to the Abyssals as humanity's last hope._

 _However, so far only Japan had such heroines that stepped up to fight. Everyone else were either skeptical about such beings existing or hadn't had a single girl that stepped up to the plate._

 _But as the number of reports of attacked, destroyed, and missing ships and planes began to pile higher and higher, the other countries would not be able to ignore the truth any longer._

* * *

The halls of the emergency room were crowded with doctors, nurses, residents, and gurneys. Some were busy rushing patients to operation rooms, others stood along the walls to talk to family members of patients. As the hospital staff rushed to and fro, there was one woman who was driven by urgency, but was not a doctor, a nurse, or a resident. It was an officer of the United States Navy.

She is Commander Samantha Ackerman. She is in her late twenties and wore her Navy Service Uniform. She's tall, taller than the average woman, with dark red hair tied up in a bun, and navy blue eyes. As a Commander, she serves as the second-in-command on _Arleigh Burke_ -class destroyer, USS _Sampson_.

Samantha continued her brisk pace as she squeezed through the crowd. She had gotten a call from the hospital, telling her that her sister was in a car accident and was in the emergency room. She anxiously looked at her watch. It has been only three minutes since she stepped foot into the hospital, but it felt like hours have already past. Not wanting to waste anymore time, she went to the nearest reception desk.

"Excuse me. I got a call saying my sister is here," Samantha said breathlessly.

"Her name?" the receptionist asked.

"Hope Ackerman."

"In the room right behind you, ma'am."

Samantha turned around. Everything around her blurred into the background as she slowly walked towards the curtained door. She stepped aside to let a nurse out before entering the room herself. Inside, her sister, two years her senior, lay on gurney. She was in a hospital gown with her intact clothes folded neatly on a chair. Her dark green hair spread across her pillow.

"Is that you, Sammie?" Hope asked groggily.

"Yes. Yes, it's me," Samantha said as she took off her peaked cap.

Hope blinked her eyes and squinted. She put her hand on her face as she looked for something.

"Can you get my glasses?" Hope asked.

"Sure," Samantha said as she looked around.

"They could be in my purse."

Samantha found Hope's purse on a table next to the chair that held her clothes and, sure enough, the glasses were in there. She put the spectacles on Hope, who then looked up and down her body.

"It's so good to see you," Hope said. "You clean up nicely too."

"Thanks," Samantha replied with a small chuckle. "So what happened in the traffic collision?"

"Someone decided to run a red light when I had the green left turn arrow and I hit him," Hope said, furrowing her brow slightly.

"Why so unsure?"

"That's what the cops told me. Truth be told, I only remember waking up behind the airbag."

"Hopefully the police can get footage from the traffic cameras. Then we'll see who is at fault in this collision," Samantha said.

"Remind me why you keep referring this as a collision and not an accident?"

"Because an accident means there is no one to blame."

"Been watching British movies again?" Hope teased.

"So what if I have?" Samantha blushed.

Hope couldn't reply as she was giggling uncontrollably. Her happiness was soon ended by a sharp moan of pain. Hope's doctor entered the room and Samantha asked him what state is her sister in. He reported that she had a fractured left collar bone, a fractured sternum, and a fractured pelvis, as well as a couple of cracked ribs. The injuries were caused by the seatbelt but if she hadn't used it, Hope would've been a lot more broken up.

"She's going to need to stay in the hospital for two to three days," the doctor said. "Before then, she can't be discharged."

"Thank you, doctor," Samantha said. She sat back down next to her sister.

"What did the doctor say?" Hope asked.

"You can be discharged in two to three days," Samantha said.

"I'm over eighteen. I can sign myself out," Hope retorted.

Samantha was about to respond when her phone vibrated in her pocket. She opened up her text messages and tapped the unread message icon. It was from her commanding officer, Captain Matthew Buchannan. After reading the message, she sighed and put her phone away.

"I've got to go," Samantha said. "Deployment orders."

"Can't you stay a little longer? San Diego is only a couple hours from here," Hope stated.

"If I was heading to San Diego, I would. But the _Sampson_ is at Pearl and I got to be there by this Friday. So I've got a flight to catch," Samantha explained.

"What's your sudden mission?" Hope asked.

"I don't know yet," Samantha admitted.

"Must be an honor to fight alongside the USS _Nimitz_."

"I don't think there's going to be any fighting where we're going."

Hope held out her right arm indicating her sister to come closer. Samantha leaned forward as she was given a one arm hug.

"Don't worry. If we're going to Japan, I'll get you a souvenir," Samantha promised.

"Just come back in one piece," Hope sniffed as sadness creeped into her voice. "I don't know what the North Koreans or Chinese would do."

"I will."

Even though the words left her mouth, Samantha knew that no matter what happens, coming back alive is the toughest promise any soldier would have to make when they step foot out of the country for an operation.

Samantha kissed her sister on the forehead.

"Tell mama to pick you up when she visits you."

"I will. That better not be the last request you make of me," Hope demanded as Samantha walked out the door. Hope watched her disappear behind a wall as she thought how Samantha could muster up the courage to go and fight for her country even if it means giving her life for it. Hope always felt a need to protect Samantha from harm. She could no longer, however, as her sister stepped out into a world of danger and unknown.

Samantha walked out of her sister's line of sight before she stopped and looked at her feet as she thought about her Hope's words.

 _You and me both._

Samantha put her cap back on and walked out of the hospital.

* * *

It was December 5th of 2015. Four days after Samantha got the text message from Matthew and two days after she arrived at Oahu. At the moment, she was leaning over the bow of a ship in the harbor. Her cap was off and her hair was untied, waving gently in the breeze. She raised her head. Breathing in the salty air, she closed her eyes.

The harbor carried so many memories. Memories that spanned before Hawaii was admitted as a state, and even before the United States showed its growing military might with its Great White Fleet back in 1907.

Looking around the harbor from where she stood, there were numerous mooring quays in sight. Some still bore the names of the ships that were docked at their respective quay on the morning of December 7th, 1941.

 _I wonder how many sisters were able to call this place home. A place for happiness to meet with other families, a place to rest and heal. Likewise, how many sisters call this place a grave? A place of agony and pain?_

Samantha looked out across the water at a floating bridge colored in a blinding white by the sun.

Sighing, she put her cap back on and turned around to face the massive guns of the Mighty Mo; the USS _Missouri_.

She walked along the deck towards the ship's superstructure, admiring the beauty of the old warrior. Many times, Samantha wished to take her out onto the ocean, to let her stretch her legs and allow her massive armament roar to life. But it doesn't seem that the time would ever come to do so with the many _Arleigh Burke_ s, Littoral combat ships, submarines, and the new class of aircraft carriers that were being built.

Samantha just passed turret number two when a tour guide leading a small group of people approached. Before she turned the corner, the tour stopped when a kid asked what the difference between a battleship and a destroyer was. Before the guide could answer, a US Navy officer, wearing the same uniform as Samantha, butted in to answer.

"Well, a destroyer is smaller and faster. They also have better maneuverability and a host of weapons to use. My personal favorite's the Tomahawk cruise missile. Battleships on the other hand..."

The officer just kept on talking and Samantha couldn't help but grin. She knew that there was short blonde hair and a pair of blue eyes attached to the voice.

"Are you a captain?" the kid asked.

"Oh, how'd you-"

"She's not a captain," Samantha said as she turned the corner. "Because she likes to pull jokes and pranks on her fellow comrades."

The other officer whipped around and stared at Samantha. Samantha couldn't stop grinning.

"Sam, you sly dog!" the officer, Leslie Nguyen, exclaimed and gave her friend a swift hug. Samantha would have returned the hug if her arms weren't pinned to her sides.

"Always ruining my fun, aren't ya?"

"Hey, I wouldn't have to ruin it for you if you stopped telling tall tales," Samantha said.

"Where's the fun in that?" Leslie asked.

The two officers chuckled until the kid raised another question.

"What are you if you aren't a captain?"

"Les is the fire control officer for the USS _John Paul Jones_. She's in charge of five-inch gun, cruise missiles, you name it," Samantha said.

"Weapons that can deliver their payload with pinpoint accuracy," Leslie said.

"Posh," Samantha said. "Shooting a sixteen inch, 2,000 pound projectile twenty four miles away and hitting within twenty feet of the target; now that's what I call accuracy."

"And you're a Commander, correct?" a teenage boy asked, looking at Samantha's shoulder boards.

"Very good. Commander Ackerman; second-in-command of the USS _Sampson._ "

After engaging in several more minutes of conversation, the officers said their goodbyes, and found themselves near the gangplank to disembark the _Missouri_.

"Have you gotten the briefing yet?" Samantha asked.

"Yeah. Very strange. Apparently we are going across the Pacific to check and see if the Japanese ran out of their sake supply," Leslie said.

"Leslie!"

"I'm sorry! But seriously. Girls that walk on water and can wipe out entire fleets? And the only way to counter that is to use other girls with similar abilitie? It sounds great as a sci-fi/supernatural setting for a movie or something, but real life? Seriously?"

"Yeah, it does seem farfetched to say the least," Samantha said. "What's next? Strapping jets to our legs and flying around with a minigun in our hands?"

"Now that sounds awesome!" Leslie exclaimed.

As Leslie continued to laugh at the mental picture she had in her head, Samantha looked towards the bow of the _Missouri_.

"Do you want to visit her?" Leslie said, sounding subdued.

"No. I'll visit her when we get back," Samantha said.

"Look on the bright side. Consider this a free trip to Japan," Leslie suggested as they walked down the gangplank.

* * *

The next day, the six ships of Destroyer Squadron 23, USS _John Paul Jones_ , USS _Howard_ , USS _Pinckney_ , USS _Sampson_ , USS _Spruance_ , and the _Oliver Hazard Perry_ -class frigate USS _Vandegrift_ left Pearl Harbor. The USS _Nimitz_ stayed behind with the rest of Carrier Strike Group 11 since it was appraised as unnecessary to send an entire fleet just for a simple conformation mission.

The weather had started out as sunny with a couple clouds and the seas were relatively calm. But as they got further and further from Pearl Harbor, the sky got darker and the waves grew. It wasn't long until rain started to patter down onto the ships.

Every sailor now wore the Navy Working Uniform which consisted of a jacket and pants that are printed in a digital pattern of blue and gray.

Samantha, with her hair tied back in a bun, was on the bridge of the Sampson when a crewman ran out of the bridge and onto the port side bridge wing. Samantha couldn't hear what he was doing above the wind that howled through the doorway, but she could guess as she saw him throw his head over the side.

"Sort of makes you wonder why he joined the navy if he has seasickness," Captain Matthew Buchannan said.

" _Sampson_ 's not going to be happy that she has vomit rolling down the side of her hull," Samantha joked.

"She'll be fine. The rain's going to wash it away anyway," Matthew said as he walked to the open door.

The crewman who had just emptied his stomach contents wiped his mouth with his sleeve and looked out and ahead of the formation.

"You alright, Morris?" Matthew asked. "You can go rest if you want."

"Thank you, sir," Morris said.

"Okay then," Matthew said as he was about to duck back inside.

"Um, sir? What do you make of that?"

Matthew walked out onto the platform and followed where Morris was pointing. He couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. Just an endless, vast expanse of rolling waves and spraying foam.

"I think you should take that rest now," Matthew said.

"No, sir. I saw something out there. It could be behind a wave."

Matthew continued to look for several more seconds and, right when he was about to leave, a wave receded and there was a big black bump in the water, about five hundred yards away. Matthew looked through a telescope mounted on the bridge wing. He pulled away, blinked several times, and looked back through the eyepiece. It was still there.

"Captain. The other ships are wondering if you see it too," Samantha reported.

"Yes, I do," he responded then asked the radar operator, "Do you have it on radar?"

"Yes, sir. It's a faint signal though."

The captains debated on what to do. One of them suggested on sending a small team on a RHIB over to the unidentified object, but the growing waves would make it risky to say the least. Finally, they settled on sending one of the ships over to check it out. The elected ship was the _Howard_.

The destroyer crept forward. Every ship was silent except for the few orders that were murmured to one another.

"Nguyen, keep that reticle on the target," Leslie's captain ordered.

"Aye, sir," she responded.

Leslie moved the gun so the barrel faced the direction of the intended target. She told one of her subordinates the target coordinates for the Tomahawks.

A couple breathless minutes later, the _Howard_ closed in to less than a hundred yards to the target.

"What does it look like over there?" Matthew asked.

"It seems to be about fifty feet long and forty feet wide," the _Howard_ captain reported.

"Does it look like a threat?" Matthew asked.

"No, sir. To be frank, sir, it looks like a floating rock."

"Alright. Form back up."

"Is there such things as floating rocks?" one of _Sampson_ 's crew asked.

"Yes, they're called pumice," Samantha answered. "But pumice is gray, not black."

The propellers on the _Howard_ have just begun to turn when a wave slammed into its left side. The _Howard_ was pushed sideways and the bow hit the unidentified object, causing the stern to swing out. The destroyer swung around until the entire right side slammed into the object. There was a lot of clamoring as questions and answers flew back and forth across the radio signals. The _Howard_ had sprung several leaks and she was stuck.

As the crews began to work out a solution to their problems, there was a dull roar. Not from the thunder that sounded off in the distance, but a hair raising, monstrous roar.

A red light appeared beneath the _Howard_ and the waves around it started to bubble like water in a kettle. The destroyer shook as the water gurgled and one of her crewmen ran out onto the starboard side bridge wing and looked down at the rock. The sea boiled as the presumed rock began rising out of the ocean. The red light grew brighter as the object rose higher into the air. As it did so, it lost its hold on the _Howard_. The ship violently tilted back and forth as she broke free, threatening to capsize herself.

Every single crewmember on all six ships stared in disbelief at what just came out of the water.

What was originally thought to be a rock, now floated just above the water. It's mouth was slightly open and it had many rows of teeth. On either side of its 'body', it had a turret which housed three guns, reminiscent to a battleship's. The turrets were mounted on the broad shoulders of its titanic arms and hands.

"Wha...W-W-What the hell is that?" Leslie stammered as she searched for appropriate words.

"It's a fucking monster! That's what!" a sailor yelled.

The monster had stayed at the spot it had came up out of. A growling noise emitted from it as it slowly moved its mouth, saliva dripping from its teeth. For a heartbeat, it fell silent before letting out a gargantuan roar.

The bridge windows shattered, sending shards everywhere. Everyone covered their ears and screamed as they tried to block out the noise in vain. The noise subsided and everyone dragged themselves back to their stations just in time to watch the first move be played.

The monster reared up and brought its fists down right on top of the _Howard_. The crews watched in shock as the destroyer's bridge was smashed, then amidships, then the helicopter hanger. Its final blow obliterated the midsection.

Muted with complete horror, no one could do anything as the USS _Howard_ sunk beneath the waves in pieces.

"That...that _thing_ just smashed and ripped apart the _Howard_ like a soda can!" Samantha exclaimed.

"Sound 'General Quarters'", Matthew ordered. "Once the weapons are ready, you may fire at will."

The familiar alarm and message sounded through all the remaining ships.

"General Quarters! General Quarters! All hands, man your battle stations! All hands, man your battle stations!"

The alarm continued to sound as the _John Paul Jones_ and _Vandegrift_ started to rapid fire their guns and launched their missiles. The monster bellowed in annoyance as the American munitions made contact with it. The turret on its right shoulder swiveled and locked its sights on _John Paul Jones_. It fired and had a narrow miss. The destroyer shook when the enemy shells impacted the water.

"Flank it! Keep your spacing and don't run into each other!" Matthew commanded.

The _John Paul Jones_ and the _Pinckney_ turned left and the _Sampson_ , _Spruance_ , and _Vandegrift_ turned right. But before the _Vandegrift_ got far into her maneuver, a volley from the left shoulder obliterated the cruiser.

Onboard the _John Paul Jones_ , Leslie was aiming for the monster's weapons.

 _If we can't sink this thing, maybe we can destroy its weapons._

She fired at the turret, causing an internal explosion.

"Yes! I got it!" Leslie cheered. "Captain! Tell the other ships to aim for the turrets!"

While her captain informed the others, their radioman was sending out a distress call.

"Mayday, mayday. This is the USS _John Paul Jones_ of DESRON 23. We need back up at our coordinates. I repeat, we need back up at..."

Meanwhile on the _Sampson_ , Matthew ordered his fire control officer to aim for the enemy's weapons. He walked towards the port side bridge wing when the Phalanx CIWSs of all the destroyers began to open up, filling the dark sky with yellow tracers. Before he could see what they were shooting at, an explosion outside knocked him back into the bridge.

"Matt!" Samantha cried out. She ran over to the captain and knelt down beside him. Matthew was riddled with shrapnel and he looked into the blue depths of Samantha's eyes as his last breath escaped him. Samantha reached up and closed his eyes. She stayed hunched over his body until someone shook her back to the present.

"Ma'am! We are being attacked by unidentified aircraft!"

"What?!"

The sky was filled with small black triangular shaped aircraft with a pair glowing circles on the top of them. Some of them were armed with a machine gun, some had bombs, and some carried both.

Back on the _John Paul Jones_ , Leslie was tapping her heel with anxiety as she waited for the weapons to be reloaded. On her screen, she saw movement on top of the monster.

A woman with pale skin, very long black hair and, in a short black dress walked up until she was on the very top of the monster. The fact that she was walking and wore clothes probably was the most normal thing about her. Abnormalities would include the two horns that she had grown out of her forehead and her pair of glowing red eyes.

The woman looked at the American destroyers, which were smoking or on fire, with a look of satisfaction on her face. She looked at the _John Paul Jones_ and the _Pinckney_ which were on her right and were the closest two destroyers.

Tracers continued to spew from the _John Paul Jones_ as the CIWS continued to engage and shoot down the aircraft. It was tracking an aircraft that was close to the woman and it sprayed the tracers and took out the aircraft, but not without hitting the woman first.

The woman grimaced as she fell to her knees and held the wound on her waist as dark red blood spilled over her fingers. Keeping one hand over her wound, she held out the other and yelled as she ordered the monster to fire the only remaining gun on its right turret at the _John Paul Jones_.

It fired.

The shockwave from the muzzle blast was so powerful that, from just a couple dozen yards away, it blew the mast off the _Pinckney_ and crushed everyone on the bridge. The shell itself punched through the deck of the _John Paul Jones_ and detonated the missiles in their silos. The bow of the ship jumped into the air as the explosion ripped her apart.

Screaming in anger, the woman hit the top of the monster. The monster made a fist and with one swift blow, crushed the _Pickney_.

The woman shakily stood up and faced the _Sampson_ and the _Spruance_ who decided to turn around and retreat. For the first time, the woman in black spoke, her demonic sounding voice reverberated through the air.

"Sink..." she said slowly. "All of you...will... SINK!"

Suddenly, many...many figures jumped out from the ocean waves. They were all pale, had silver or black hair, had glowing eyes. Some looked like monsters and others looked like women.

They were the fleet from the depths of the ocean; the Abyssals.

The woman on the monster spoke again.

"You never bothered to find me. Now no one will find you," she said menacingly.

The Abyssals opened fire with everything they had at the two last surviving _Arleigh Burke_ -class destroyers.

The wind howled and screamed as the _Sampson_ , tried her best to brave the wrath of the Pacific as well as the gauntlet of fire. Rain hammered down on her and she creaked and groaned as she hit the bottom of a wave, sending water rushing across her decks. Not far from her, the _Spruance_ screamed as a fireball engulfed the entire ship. If a ship could have wept in agony, _Sampson_ would have as it was the last of her squadron that had just been sent to a watery grave. _Sampson_ was slammed by a wave that pushed her involuntarily to starboard and she got a barrage of enemy fire straight into her left side. Her crew exclaimed in surprise as another volley fatally crippled her. Her engines have quit and all she could do was ride the aggressive waves.

Samantha gave the order to abandon ship. Life rafts were inflated and the crew jumped over the side and swam to them. The bow raised into the air as _Sampson_ sank stern first. Once everyone was clear from the bridge, Samantha looked around one last time before evacuating herself.

Out on the deck, Samantha tried to get to the submerged helipad where there was a life raft waiting. The ship shook and she grabbed the railing. The sound of explosions erupted throughout _Sampson_ as she shuddered violently. Samantha gripped the railing tightly, her eyes wide with horror as a fireball erupted right next to her.

Everything steadily grew darker as the crushing depths pulled hungrily on the doomed ships. _Sampson_ groaned with protest as she sank deeper and deeper beneath the waves, her shredded American flag still waving in defiance. Her groans turned into shrieks until a muffled bang split her in two. Not far from her, Samantha was in her own descent. Not much crossed her mind as the burns from the explosion as pretty much put the final nail in her coffin as she sank deeper and deeper into the dark abyss.

 _I guess if you spend your life on the ocean, you'll spend your death there as well. I can't complain though. I've always loved the ocean. That's why I joined the navy. Wait...that's pretty obvious isn't it?_

 _Of course, war is such a hellish place. People die on both sides._

 _And it seems that the Japanese were telling the truth. There are such things as Abyssals._

 _Wait...what is that?_

 _Those streaks of water heading towards the life rafts! Are they seriously going to-_

 _No! No, no, no, no, no, no! The water's running red! Those fucking Abyssals! They killed defenseless people!_

 _And just when I thought I was able to save most of my crew instead of losing! I lose them all again!_

 _'Again'? Why 'again'? I never had to abandon a ship before let alone be fired upon._

 _Did I dream about this before? I might've._

 _A dream with a beautiful rising sun being blocked out by thick black smoke. Smoke so thick that it threatens to tear my throat out from my neck. An oily fire scorching my skin..._

 _These sensations. They're way too vivid to be just dreams._

 _Could they be...memories?_

 _If so, who's memories are they?_

She thought no more as she closed her eyes and let the abyss move in to claim her.

* * *

"They are my memories," a feminine voice said. "I have been mine and mine alone for over seventy years. And now they will become yours."

* * *

The weight of the ocean suddenly disappeared and Samantha broke the surface gasping for air. There was a small empty life raft near her and she pushed through the storm and hauled herself into it. The inside was streaked with blood but she didn't care as her body ached to the point of numbness. She lay, letting her uniform run red and her now untied hair darken in the downpour.

Samantha woke up. She just had a nightmare. A nightmare where she was beaten repeatedly by two women. One wore a white top and a blue bottom, the other wore an orange shirt with a gray and white headband. Not being able to do anything, she was continuously beaten as she heard other screams all around her. The nightmare ended when the woman in orange took a double barrel shotgun and unloaded both barrels at point blank range.

She sighed and noticed how stiff she felt. It felt like she hadn't moved in years but once she looked at her watch, it had only been several hours. She tried to move her legs but they screamed in protest and she heard an unfamiliar 'Clink!'

Looking down, she saw an unfamiliar pair of boots on her person. They were high heeled boots but the heels were rectangular instead of the normal peg. The shoes themselves along with the shin portion were colored a dark grey while the soles and calves were red. The weirdest thing about them was that they were made entirely out of metal.

Her body creaked as she sat up and examined her footwear. She attempted to take them off but there was no way she could. At least they had separate plates so she could still move her feet freely from the rest of her legs.

Looking around, she could still see smoke and debris at locations where other ships of Destroyer Squadron 23 have sunk as well as other life rafts that were empty or lifeless. Not wanting to look at the scene of death and destruction any longer, she hugged her legs and rested her head on her knees with her eyes closed.

Suddenly, she heard the crackle of a radio. She looked around the life raft but there was nothing in it except blood and herself.

 _I must be hearing things._

The crackling came again. This time a little clearer.

Out of loneliness, Samantha spoke to it.

"Hello?"

Not expecting a response she put her head back onto her knees and kept listening to the static but something unexpected happened. She got a reply.

" _Hello?!"_ came a panicked voice. _"Hello, is anyone there?! We are under attack! We need support at-!"_

The message was quickly cut off with static and another crackled in her ears. This time it sounded like a panicking civilian.

" _I need help! Somebody help me!"_

A message from a calmer, yet still distraught voice came through.

" _My god. The entire island of Oahu is on fire,"_ one man said.

" _It's the Day of Infamy all over again,"_ another said.

Samantha sat rigid.

 _Oahu? Day of Infamy? Don't tell me Pearl Harbor is under attack! Could it be the Abyssals?_

Her fears were confirmed when another radio message flowed mysteriously into her ears.

" _What the hell are those things?! Goddamn monsters!"_ Gunshots rang out and screams were heard.

 _I need to get over there!_

Ignoring her screaming joints and muscles, she paddled the water with her hands. She tired quickly but ignored it as more calls of distress filled her ears. Her raft was at a wave's peak and there was a steep drop ahead of her. Samantha screamed as she was thrown out of her raft and tumbled down wave.

Instinctively, she paddled to the surface but her arms and legs touched air instead. She looked down and found herself _on_ the surface of the ocean. Not floating, but actually on the surface as if it was solid ground.

Samantha timidly set one foot onto the water, then the other, and slowly stood up. She stuck her arms out for balance but she fell onto her back. She attempted another try, putting one foot down, then the other. She put out her arms and kept her knees bent, resembling a newborn fawn in a way. She chuckled nervously. She was actually _standing_ on water.

Samantha couldn't help but break a smile. She couldn't believe it even though it was happening! Taking a step forward, she was able to move a little. After feeling the small amount of resistance, she pushed her feet out to the side alternatively, in a skating motion. She laughed with joy as she admired her new found ability only to be yanked back to reality when screams filled her head. She broke into a fast skate towards Pearl Harbor. While attempting her speed skating, she fell multiple times as the waves proved challenging to conquer.

" _Jesus Christ! How much longer do we have to hold out?!"_ she heard a man yell.

There was no answer from Samantha or anyone else.

" _What's the status on reinforcements?! Hello?! Is there anybody there?!"_

"Yes!" Samantha cried urgently. "Yes, I'm here! I can hear you!"

There was no indication that she was heard.

"Goddamn it! I can somehow receive these messages but how do I send?!" Samantha shouted aloud in frustration.

" _They're never coming for us are they, sir?"_ a younger voice asked.

"No! Just hang in there! I'm coming!"

Samantha stood ankle deep in water at the mouth of Pearl Harbor in silent shock. It was quiet aside from the pattering rain and crackling fires of sunken ships. Ships, military and civilian alike were left to sit at the bottom of the harbor, the _USS Nimitz_ listed heavily to her left. Everywhere, bodies floated on the water and lay motionless on the decks of ships.

"Oh my god..."

Leaving a red wake behind her, she approached Battleship Row. She looked up at _Missouri_ as she passed. The old warship was listing to starboard with only her moorings keeping her up. Her mast fell into the water, taking the signal flags with it. Her decks could be seen covered in bodies of civilians; men, women, and children.

Samantha gagged at the sight. She attempted to get rid of the bile rising up in her throat but there was nothing in her stomach.

She had no business with the fast battleship however. It was with the ship 500 yards in front of her. She stopped at the floating bridge which served as a memorial as well as the headstone for the sunken vessel and her 1,177 men.

"Hi, guys," Samantha said to the ship. "I'm back."

A tear rolled down her cheek as she continued.

"I'm sorry. I am so very sorry that I let you all down. I wasn't able to save all of you. It still pains me to this day knowing that I couldn't do anything. I feel deep regret that I can't bring you back with me to this new life, but I hope I can make it up to you by being the best ship I can be."

Samantha saluted the mass tomb and she closed her eyes as the water around her and the memorial began to glow blue. She felt weightless as the light consumed her. Her body jerked under the force impact as equipment flew onto her piece by piece.

 _This is who I am. A warship. A super-dreadnaught born in 1915. I was meant to succeed my older sisters, the_ Nevada- _class, as well as challenge the dreadnaughts built by the British and the Japanese. Designed with the 'All-or-Nothing' ideal and armed with twelve 14"/45 caliber navy rifles housed in four turrets, I can do just that._

The light faded and Samantha stood tall and confident with her brand new equipment. She had vambraces on her forearms. The portions on her inner arms were red and the outer were a dark gray, just like her boots. Over her uniform, she had a dark gray underbust corset that had a thick black line running down on both sides. Attached to the harness on her back, what resembled two halves of a ship's hull curved around to her sides. On the wooden 'deck' of each side had a triple gun turret. Two more turrets were stored pointing downwards on either side of her backpack, which resembled the _Arizona_ 's bridge along with one of her smokestacks. On top of that, she had a tripod mast with a conning tower. To complete her outfit, she had a US Navy cutlass at her hip.

"Heh. That 'All-or-Nothing' didn't seem to work out in the end," Samantha chuckled.

She wiped away her tears.

"Who am I? I am the second of the _Pennsylvania_ -class battleships, hull number BB-39. I am USS Arizona."

A beam of sunlight broke through the clouds and shone on Arizona. She unsheathed her cutlass and held it in the air.

"I will never give up. I will never surrender. I will fight to the very end and I won't go down until every last round of ammunition has been fired."

* * *

 **A/N: I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! Please leave a comment whether they'd be compliments or criticisms (constructive criticisms are preferred). Feel free to send me a PM if you have any questions. Anyways ladies and gents, take care and I hope to catch you in the next chapter.**

 ***A woman steps into frame***

 **Hi! I'm Arizona. Just a couple things before we call it a day.**

 **The 'All-or-Nothing' ideal was to give battleships more armor in all the important places, such as the magazine, and put less armor elsewhere. It was interpreted by giving me the metal corset.**

 **Also, Japanese ship girls along with others from England, France, Germany and others will also make their appearances and have their roles in this story.**

 **That is all! Take care folks.**


	2. An Unexpected Homecoming

**A/N: A couple minor changes were made to the first chapter. I changed Samantha's rank from First Lieutenant to Commander to her rank more suited for being an Executive Officer. I also changed her starting uniform from the Summer White Service to the Navy Service Uniform. Thanks to Breakaway25 for the information. I try to be as accurate as possible when I write, but I do make mistakes.**

 **Also, to those who asked, thank you for reminding me about the Royal Australian Navy. To be honest, I completely forgot as I was mainly focusing on the major navies of WWII. At this point in time, I do not know how big of a role they'll play, but I intend to include them.**

* * *

-2-

An Unexpected Homecoming

It had never occurred to anyone that such a tragedy would happen again. An attack carried out by an unknown enemy, one considered to be nonexistent and implausible. But it happened; on the same month, on the same day, at the same time. An entire fleet at anchor, now sits at the bottom of the harbor. Just like seventy-four years ago.

Pearl Harbor stands in flames once again.

Black smoke covered the sky making it darker than it already was for a cloudy day. The crackling of fires were briefly disrupted by explosions and gunfire as the Fleet of the Abyss carried on with their assault.

However, not every participant was on the offensive. There was one woman who stood at the bow of the antiquated warship, her yellow eyes scanning the harbor to admire her comrades' handiwork.

She had a tall and slender figure with pale skin and a matching bodysuit. Her hair was long and was as bleached as her skin. On her head was a large 'hat' with one double-gun turret on each side of its head as well as four tentacles and a large toothy mouth. She wore a black pair of high-heeled boots, gloves, and skin-tight pants.

She is a Wo-class aircraft carrier; the main carrier class of the Abyssal Fleet.

The Wo-class carried a staff with her. She planted it in the deck in front of her and rested both hands on top. She watched the carnage as her cape slowly waved in the wind.

Not far from the battleship she stood on, there was a full size aircraft carrier under attack by the Abyssals. Aircraft strafed the flight deck and Abyssal vessels shot with their cannons. The carrier soon buckled under the intense fire. An explosion erupted near the stern, launching an F/A-18 Super Hornet into the air and in the Wo-class's direction.

The woman expressed no concern.

The jet was blown to bits before it could reach her. One of the larger chunks continued on and smashed into the battleship's mast, snapping some of the spars.

The Abyssal responsible for the shot jumped out of the water and landed in front of the battleship's front gun turret.

The newcomer was similar to the Wo-class. She also had pale skin and long white hair, but she was not a carrier. She wore a sailor shirt that was small enough to expose her midriff. Her cape was white and she wore no pants, only her black panties. There were multiple double-gun turrets on her person.

She is a Ta-class battleship; one of the main battleship classes of their fleet.

"Nice shot," the Wo-class said without moving.

"Thank you," the Ta-class responded.

The Wo-class continued to admire the show of destruction before her. The Ta-class shifted uncertainly as silence settled between them.

"Do you think this will work?" the Ta-class asked.

"It has worked before."

"I know about the completely out of proportional response Forty-Eight has to this type of event, but what would they do?"

The Wo-class turned her head slightly.

"There is a high chance that they attack the wrong enemy. They have done it before. I wouldn't put it past them if they do it again."

The Wo-class stayed silent, but narrowed her eyes as she understood where the battleship was going.

"If they do attack the country that they assume is responsible for this, then how do we make ourselves known? We want them to come after us, don't we?"

"If they do decide to attack another country, we will attack them while they are on route," said the Wo-class.

"They have no Kanmusus, however," the Ta-class noted.

"So what? They'll send their regular forces after us."

The Wo-class turned her head far enough so she could see the Ta-class. The carrier's mouth slowly curled into a grin.

"They do that and I get to kill a whole lot more of them," the Wo-class finished.

"You really dislike them, don't you?"

"I have my woes. You do too if I recall."

The Abyssal battleship's face hardened, her red eyes drilling holes into the Wo-class. Only moving her eyes, she quickly broke her stare as she flicked her eyes to a ship in the entrance to the harbor.

"There's a ship over there," the Ta-class said coldly.

"I noticed."

The Wo-class signaled her aircraft. Five of her bombers made a pass over the ship and released their payload. The majority of the ordinance hit their target and obliterated the cruiser.

* * *

Arizona gently set down another body on the slanted flight deck of the USS _Nimitz_. This time it was a young girl, no more than twelve years old. The battleship sniffed and covered her mouth as she tried to hold back the tears as well as the dreadful smell of thousands of decaying corpses. She stood up and walked down the flight deck, rows upon rows of bodies that she had fished out of the harbor.

It has been two days since she arrived back at Pearl Harbor. Two days since the spirit of the _Arizona_ called upon her.

Since then, she had been collecting the bodies from the harbor and taking them to dry land or on a ship, a boat, a dock…she just wanted to get them out of the water. She had found body bags and did what she could, but she, unsurprisingly, ran out of the supply she had scavenged. There were definitely more around the island.

There was only one problem.

Her equipment. It was too wide and prevented her from fitting through most doorways. She has not figured out how to remove it either. Basically, she had no choice but to stay outside. As for sleeping, she resigned to sitting upright in the _Nimitz_ 's hangar with a surgical mask over her mouth.

Arizona walked onto land and to a vending machine. She reached into the pocket of her NWU and pulled out some cash that she had looted from the bodies. She did not like her actions, but there was not much else she could do. The pocket her wallet should be in was now gone. Probably from the explosion that launched her into the sea.

She inserted the money and got water from one machine, and a bag of cookies from another. She popped the cap open and took a drink when it dawned on her.

 _How did I survive that explosion anyway?_

She reached up and felt her cheek where she remembered the searing pain before it stung from the salt water. Moving by a show window, Arizona checked her reflection.

Nothing.

She was unscathed. Or at least her skin was.

Her uniform was another story as it was charred and she was missing part of her right sleeve.

After finishing her food, she dumped the waste into a garbage bin and headed back out onto the water, ankle deep.

* * *

It was almost noon by the time she filled the flight deck of the carrier and moved onto the bodies around Ford Island.

She had filled the piers near the USS _Utah_ Memorial and went around the island towards the _Missouri_.

Arizona felt a twinge of guilt and nervousness being in such close proximity to the old battleship.

She felt sorry for _Utah_. Not only has _Utah_ been sunk on the same day as herself, but she was long forgotten. Arizona had taken the spotlight as she is the most remembered, the most visited, the most mourned for.

And then there was _Utah_ , cold and alone on the opposite side of the island.

Arizona bowed her head as she passed the wreck.

Hour upon hour, one by one, she continued to fish bodies out of the water and lay them on the pier. Each time she set foot on land, she felt like a beached whale. The burden of her equipment on her back weighed her down significantly and it felt like she was getting crushed every time she went ashore. But it was the least she could do. She wanted to these men, women, and children to have a proper burial.

Unlike her crew. But which one?

Arizona had gathered her final body for the day. It was an adult male. She set him down next to an adult female who was still holding her child in her arms, though she did not do so at random. While she was scavenging corpses for money for her next measly meal, she had noticed this group of three very close to each other as if they shared their final moments. The battleship could not hold back her tears this time.

An entire family…gone.

Standing up again, her heels clicked along the cement until she had reached a pair of vending machines. One was for beverages and the other was for snacks. She inserted the money and pushed the button for water. The vending machine went to work as Arizona put coins into the other machine. But the noise one would expect from a vending machine did not come.

Arizona opened the flap where the bottles would be dispensed. It was empty.

 _Really?_

She hit the button that should give her back the money she had spent, but the machine did nothing.

 _Hate it when this happens_.

She slapped the side of the machine to try and shake the bottle loose. No luck. She shook the machine and she could hear the bottle move, but it did not fall all the way.

 _Come on!_

Arizona planted her metal boot heal into the machine with a thunderous "Bang!"

The force of her kick broke the front of the case, revealing the lights inside it. There was a pathetic thud as the machine finally surrendered the water bottle. Arizona grabbed it and twisted the cap open.

"Remind me why I don't buy from these things?" she asked sarcastically before taking a sip.

She turned her attention to the other machine. Right before she placed her order, her finger froze mere millimeters away from the button.

 _Why don't I just break the glass? I'm strong enough or at least will find a way to break it._

Arizona placed her hand on the glass.

 _I could be getting this food for free. But then I would be stealing._

She halfheartedly made a fist and lightly tapped it against window continuously as she argued with herself. Finally, she pressed the button for a snack bar and another bag of cookies. The coils in the machine turned as her chosen food items were brought to the edge and dropped down. Picking up the bags, she put them on the first turret on her left and walked back to the _Missouri_.

Once on the battleship, she walked to the fantail and sat on the helicopter pad and watched the setting sun.

 _I'm saddened. The first thing I do when I return was see the horrific sight of Pearl Harbour and steal from the deceased._

"Terrible reintroduction to the world," Arizona said aloud. "But is it really stealing? I mean, they don't need it anymore."

 _What am I doing?_

"Trying to convince myself?"

Sighing, she leaned back as far as her equipment would allow her as she watch the sinking orange ball of flame. It was behind some clouds now. The rays filtered through the clouds and made a striking resemblance to a different sun.

"Bring any memories?" Arizona said. "Happiness, sadness, regret? This is probably the first time I watch a sunset peacefully in a while. I mean, you saw the rising sun twice on the same day, but not the sunset. Yeah, those are bad memories."

She leaned against her equipment and opened her bag of cookies.

"Hm. While Japan gets to enjoy their rising sun, America can look up and enjoy the shining stars."

"I do wish you came back," Arizona said as she rubbed her hand on _Missouri_ 's deck. "To enjoy this view with me."

* * *

Morning had arrived and Arizona was exactly where she settled down last night on the fantail of _Missouri_. She shivered as her body slowly came back to the waking world.

"Maybe it wasn't such a great idea to sleep outside," Arizona groaned as she tried to shift into a more comfortable position only to find that her equipment hindered her movement again. Instead she stretched and let her body fall limp.

The battleship drifted in and out of consciousness as the morning grew older. Once when she was awoken by an irritating buzzing. She tried to ignore it, but it insisted and grew louder. She cracked open her eyes and put her hand up to block the sun that filtered through the smoke. Looking between her fingers, she saw a shape moving about in the sky. Squinting her eyes, she saw a jet of some sort and a...a United States military aircraft insignia!

All hint of exhaustion disappeared as she jumped to her feet with her arms up.

"Yeah! AV-8 Harriers!"

The jump jets made a pass over _Missouri_ and headed off towards the mouth of the harbor. In the distance, Arizona could see a lone flat top.

"One assault ship? Oh no. If the enemy is still around, they'll be in real trouble! I need to warn them somehow."

She remembered that she was able to listen in on radio transmissions, but she still does not know how to send. On top of that, whatever frequency she was listening to was dead silent.

"Guess I'll just have to do it the old fashioned way."

Arizona walked to a portion of the edge of the _Missouri_ where the railing had gone missing. She was about to jump into the water when she spotted something in the distance. Two LCACs (Landing Craft Air Cushion) and multiple attack and transport helicopters were heading towards another part of the island.

"Looks like they are headed to Honolulu."

She jumped into the water and sailed out of the harbor, passing the _Ticonderoga_ -class cruiser, USS _Chosin_ , which lay in the harbor entrance.

...

US Marine Private First Class Nicholas Kerns disembarked the LCAC and onto the sandy beach of Ala Moana Beach Park. Almost immediately after stepping foot onto the sand, blood trails and bodies were seen.

"Oh, god," he gagged as he moved his shamagh over his nose and mouth. "Have you seen anything like this?"

"No, nothing like this," answered a veteran.

Engines rumbled as Humvees and LAV-25s rolled off the hovercrafts. Jets and helicopters flew overhead as each squad received their orders.

Ever since the United States had lost contact with Destroyer Squadron 23, a few hours later, the entire island of Oahu went dark. Once the mainland had heard about the dastardly attack on Pearl Harbor, the US Marines and Navy scrounged up what they could as quickly as possible. The only ship that was ready for immediate deployment was the _Wasp_ -class assault ship, USS _Essex_. Reconnaissance aircraft flew back and forth across the sky searching for any threats. They have been at it for several days and nothing showed up. _Essex_ was given the green light to launch the amphibious landing.

The marines' mission was to search the island for any survivors and eliminate any threats.

It had been a while since Kerns first set foot on the island and he is now walking with his squad and an LAV down a road just outside of downtown Honolulu.

"I saw movement," an AH-1 Viper pilot said. "About a hundred and fifty meters to your front."

"Roger that," Kerns's squad leader said. "Keep your eyes open."

"Could it be a survivor?" Kerns asked the squad mate next to him.

"I hope so," he said. "But judging by the bodies, it could be anybody."

Kerns continued to walk for the next hundred meters when he heard some noise down the street to his left. He broke off from his group and slowly walked down the street. There was a hollow clatter coming from a street up ahead and it became slightly louder as he approached the intersection. Rapid metal clinking came from the right.

Suddenly, a woman slid out from around the corner. Her legs were not moving and her shoes sparked as they scraped against the asphalt. She slid until she hit a police car that was in the middle of the intersection.

"Owww..." she groaned as she picked herself up.

She did not notice Kerns until she lifted up her head. The marine was dumbfounded at what he was seeing. A woman in a heavily charred NWU with metal all over her body. On top of that, she had what resembled a ship's hull attached to her body along with many large caliber rifles. This woman was literally a walking battleship!

Kerns raised his M16 in panic and confusion.

...

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!" panicked Arizona, holding her hands up in front of her. "Don't shoot me!"

"Who...What are you?" the marine demanded.

"I'm Arizona," she said.

"Arizona?"

"Yeah, as in battleship _Arizona_."

"Wha-"

"Are there any other ships in the area?" Arizona interrupted.

"No, just the _Essex_."

"You need to get out of here now! It's not safe here at all!"

She saw the marine's eyes flick to the side for a split second.

"Why are you staying? You can be an enemy!" Kerns said.

"What? No, I'm not an enemy!" Arizona said completely shocked. "Why would I attack my own country?!"

"You could be a terrorist! Or-or-or..." he stammered.

"I am not!" She let out a sigh of frustration. Her eyes saw his nametag and decided to get straight to the point.

"Look, Kerns. Please stop pointing that gun at me. I'm not the enemy. I saw the enemy and-"

"Hey, Kerns!" someone shouted. "Where the fuck did you go?"

"Down here, lieutenant!" Kerns responded.

Arizona saw a squad and an LAV appear from behind Kerns.

"What the..." a marine said.

Similar remarks were made and Arizona's situation did not change. What did change was that she now has many more rifles and a Bushmaster chain gun pointed at her.

"Guys, I'm not the enemy!" Arizona's voice went up an octave with panic. "I'm here to help! What do I have to do to prove myself?!

No change in response came from the marines. A UH-1 Venom stopped behind the marines and Arizona saw the door gunner take aim.

The turret on her right hull began to move with a soft whir. The guns elevated and she, along with the marines, instantly became uneasy.

"This is insane!" Arizona screeched.

The turret fired with a thunderous boom. The three solid armor piercing shells went through the tail boom without exploding. The control surfaces were destroyed and the helicopter entered a spiral and crashed behind a building.

As shocked as she was, Arizona managed to turn her head to look back in front of her. The marines were...unhappy to say the least.

"Fire!" the squad leader ordered.

"SHIT!" Arizona cried out.

The rifles and machine guns opened up. Arizona shielded herself as well as she could and had stumbled backwards under the weight of fire. The bullets harmlessly bounced right off her body. It felt like getting lit up by an entire team with paintball guns, only a hundred times more painful.

Even though her body was immune, her clothes were not.

When the marines stopped to reload, Arizona got up and sprinted down the street.

"What was that? What happened?" someone asked over the radio.

"We got a contact," Kerns's squad leader said. "Lone target heading south towards the harbor."

Arizona ran as fast as she down the street. As she gained separation, the LAV started to open up on her with its main gun. The twenty-five millimeter shells missed quite often, but when she did get hit, the pain was exponential compared to the regular rifle rounds.

Other teams of armored vehicles and foot soldiers appeared, cutting off any possible escape routes. Well, it is not like she did not have any plans to escape to begin with.

 _Why did they react like this? Can't they see that I just want to help?_

She ran along Nimitz Highway until she was cornered on a bridge. Panting heavily, she had one hand on her knee and the other trying to hold the remains of her tunic over her chest.

"Can I have a minute to explain?" she pleaded, nearly begging.

"You can start by explaining why you declared a one man war on America," someone said.

"Woman," a female marine said under her breath.

"Now wait a second," Arizona said, her voice laced with frustration. "I did not attack anybody."

"Says you," someone said.

The intensity between them skyrocketed.

"It's true!" Arizona held her hands up when the marines tensed. "I didn't-"

Arizona interrupted herself when she took a step back and fell backwards over the railing, landing in the ocean with a splash.

Groaning, she lifted her head off the surface of the water.

 _I need some way to get though to them. I need to be somewhere where they will not threaten and question me at every word I say._

Arizona got to her feet and started water skiing out of Honolulu Harbor. It did not take long for her to be under fire yet again. This time from the AH-1 Viper attack helicopters. The Vipers' nose-mounted cannons chattered as they pursued Arizona.

 _Go to the_ Essex _?_

"Gah!" Arizona's back was pushed forward by the impact of a rocket.

 _What am I thinking?! That's like going into the lion's den!_

She took evasive maneuvers as more ordinance was sent her way.

Nimitz _? No, with all the bodies there and how they reacted, they'd assume it's my fault_.

A hailstorm of rockets rained all around her. Some had hit with a vicious impact.

 _Maybe back to my memorial? It's a grave as well as a memorial and it is an important symbol to the American people. It would be considered blasphemous to damage me or the structure._

Arizona looked towards the harbor. She dreaded the sight. The sky above Pearl Harbor was crawling with combat aircraft.

"This will be my best shot," she said aloud.

Arizona made a sharp right turn towards the mouth of the harbor while dodging more rockets. She had just passed the _Chosin_ which sat at the fork when Hellfire missiles slammed into her.

"Goddamn it!" she felt her speed dropping and her legs encountering much more resistance than usual. Looking down, her legs were almost knee deep in water.

She was sinking!

"I'm going to do this! I will make it there!" Arizona screamed. "SHUT UP!"

Another missile struck, knocking the wind out of her. The force knocked her forward. It tore away her tripod mast and damaged her bridge.

"No..." Arizona croaked. Blood dripped down her face and smeared into red splotches. Moving her legs forward, they tripped on harbor floor and she collapsed onto the shore at Hospital Point. Holding out her hand, she reached for her memorial. Her arm fell limp as her consciousness slipped into darkness.

...

The marines inspected Arizona. Despite most of her clothes being destroyed, she was unscathed herself besides a few open wounds. After some words were exchanged over the radio waves, they had come to the conclusion of what they will do. The LCAC arrived and dropped its front ramp. They wrapped a cable around Arizona's body and, using an LAV, they towed her onto the hovercraft.

There was one thing that no one noticed, however.

A tiny girl fell out of Arizona's partially destroyed bridge. She had brown hair under a yellow hard hat, a denim collared shirt, denim pants, and brown leather shoes. She held a tiny hammer as well.

After landing on the ground, she looked around frantically to see where her ship went. She saw Arizona slowly disappearing behind the ramp of the hovercraft. Sprinting as fast as her little legs will allow her, the girl jumped. She managed to grab onto the ramp before it was raised too high. She pulled herself over and tumbled down the slope and landed on her head. After sitting upright, she adjusted her helmet and ran towards Arizona, hiding in the remnants of the battleship's pants pocket.

Once the craft departed, Pearl Harbor was left in silence once again. Smoke continued to billow into the sky, catching the current as it rose. The breeze picked up and the flag of the United States of America, flying at half-mast at the USS _Arizona_ Memorial, broke off its hooks and was swept away on the wind.

* * *

Water splashed onto Arizona, rudely waking her up. She tried to open her eyes, but she was met by a daze of blurry shapes and gloomy colors. After blinking and wiping the water from her eyes, she looked around and found herself in a dark, cement cube. Her hands and feet were shackled and a metal belt kept her tethered to the wall. She was able to move, but not too far.

She was not the only person in the room.

There was a girl who was attached to her. She was restrained as well, but with more restrictive and modern handcuffs. A cloth gag dug into her cheeks and mouth. She was squatting and whimpered as she looked around frantically, clearly terrified.

Arizona quickly figured out why she was frightened out of her skin. Once she became aware of her surroundings, she saw four women in front of her chained together in a similar manner as she was with the girl. At the very front was another lone female, but she lay on the floor, eerily still. As for the others, they were all locked in combat with unknown assailants.

One of the attackers held something that resembled a meat cleaver and swiped it at the woman who was farthest from Arizona. The woman held her throat and made dreadful gurgling sounds as she drowned in her own blood.

A shriek of agony could be heard above the clamor. When Arizona looked behind her there was a woman who was trying to free herself of her own shackles who had just noticed the most recent murder. Witnessing the event only made her attack her restraints savagely.

Still in a world of confusion, Arizona felt a sudden pain shoot up her arm. Looking down, she saw the green fletching of an arrow sticking out of her upper left arm. She gingerly reached for it, but another arrow nailed her hand to her shoulder. Screaming in pain, a flurry of arrows came from the dark side of the room and skewered her. Gasping for breath as blood filled her lungs, she saw a shadowy figure step past the girl she was chained to and stopped in front of her.

Arizona could not see any features on tis person's body, but it is most definitely a female. Her assailant raised her foot and stomped on and broke the arrow that was in Arizona's leg. The battleship would have dropped to her knees, but the woman grabbed her by the neck and 'stood' her back up. She had an arrow in her hand and she buried it in Arizona's gut.

 _Impaling me with eight arrows. This woman is some kind of sadist!_

Arizona defiantly spat the blood she had onto the woman's face. She could feel her candle slowly dimming, but she wanted to make sure she does not go without a fight.

Suddenly, a flash of yellow caught her eye. Looking behind the woman, she could see another approaching. Arizona's eyes widened as she could see a sawed-off double-barrel shotgun in her hand.

The newcomer grabbed the assailant by the side ponytail and pushed her away. She put one hand on Arizona's shoulder and raised the shotgun to her chest. Completely mute, the last thing Arizona saw when the both barrels went off was a red circle on the woman's headband.

With her heart obliterated, Arizona fell to the floor in a growing pool of her own blood. She did not move. She could not breathe. As darkness slowly overtook her, she saw the woman that was chained behind her run towards the metal door before being intercepted and someone looking through the door's window, pounding against it in vain.

* * *

"Ha!" Arizona gasped, her eyes flying open. She breathed heavily, her heart racing as the nightmare came to an abrupt end.

"Not that one again..." she groaned as she buried her face in her hands...or attempted to anyway.

Halfway up to her face, her arms were forced to stop. Looking down, she saw that her hands were handcuffed. Instead of being handcuffed together, they were chained to the concrete floor. She could only move her hands as far as the top of the table in front of her. Her ankles were restrained to the legs of the metal chair she was sitting in.

On top of that, her equipment was missing. She still had her vambraces, corset, and boots, but everything else was gone. There was not much left of her clothes either. The only things left were what was under her armor and most of her left pants leg. That did not mean she was completely exposed. She had a white T-shirt on and what was left of her pants besides the leg did a decent job of covering her up.

Looking around, she saw another chair on the opposite side of the table, a metal door, and a mirror along one of the walls.

"Why am I in an interrogation room?" she asked herself.

The door opened and a man in NWUs walked in.

...

Lieutenant Lindsey Helfmann had just entered the observation room. She had been summoned to take a look at a peculiar case. From what she was told, the marines who were sent to Pearl Harbor have captured "something". Apparently it was a woman who thought of herself as a battleship coming back to the world to fight an enemy only she could defeat.

Whatever the case may be, Helfmann wants to find out what is in this person's mind.

When she walked through the door, she froze and watched the two people on the other side of the glass.

"Lieutenant," the man in the observation room said.

"What has she said so far?" Helfmann asked.

"It hadn't made any sense. It keeps repeating itself. Something about monsters, aliens, and the _Arizona_. Not to mention that she had this on her."

He handed her several pictures of what seemed to be miniaturized structures and weapons of the _Arizona_ as well as a cutlass. Helfmann looked up.

"How did you manage to get this off of her?"

"Oxy-fuel cutting."

"Hm..." she rubbed her chin thoughtfully as she watched the man and woman of the interrogation room.

"I said tell me the truth!" the man demanded.

"I _have_ been telling you the truth!" the woman said. "What more do you need from me?! I saw those creatures! The marines' bullets couldn't hurt me! Bloody hell, I can stand on water! What else do you want?!"

"The truth!"

The man back-handed the woman across the face, making Helfmann quietly face-palm.

"You should not have let Alvarez talk to her," Helfmann said. "Get him out. I'm going in."

Helfmann stopped before exiting completely.

"And until I prove otherwise, it is a woman."

...

Frustrated would be describing Arizona's mood lightly. She told the truth to every single person that entered the room and none of them believed a word she said. The story does sound farfetched, but she assumed that after Destroyer Squadron 23 and Oahu were wiped off the map, she would be well received. There is nothing more painful than trying to help the country you love, only to be rejected with hatred.

The room door opened and a woman with dark-blonde hair and brown highlights in NWUs walked in with a paper cup.

"You can wait outside," she told the guards.

The guards seemed hesitant.

"Do I need to make it a direct order?"

They responded with a "No, ma'am" and went out the door. She closed the door behind them and sat down in the opposite chair.

The woman pushed the paper cup toward Arizona.

"Here's some water if you want it."

Arizona timidly held the cup in her hands.

"What did you put in it?" Arizona challenged.

"Nothing. I used the water dispenser thing outside."

The battleship went through the possible consequences and decided that none of them that could affect her would be too severe. She took a couple small sips before realizing how parched her body was. She chugged what was left in the small cup, spilling some of it due to her restraints.

"Feel better?"

"Much," Arizona panted. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," she said. "Now, I have questions I want to ask you. Answer them truthfully please."

"I have been."

"What is your name?"

"Arizona."

"Your real name?" she asked. "For example, my name is Lindsey Helfmann."

"That _is_ my real name," Arizona said. "I am USS Arizona, the second ship of the _Pennsylvania_ -class battleships. A super-dreadnought."

Arizona visibly made a sharp twitch with her head. Helfmann lightly tapped her thumbs together.

"Okay," Helfmann said. "What was the name your parents gave you?"

Arizona's eyes widened.

"You do have parents, I assume?"

Arizona's heart-rate shot up as did her breathing.

 _Let me talk to her._

"No," Arizona said to herself, clenching her teeth.

 _This is getting nowhere. Let me talk to her_.

"No. They need my help."

Our _help. And the only way we can help anybody is if we aren't fucking stuck in here! So let me talk!_

Arizona keeled over as she let out the breath she was holding in.

"Are you okay?" Helfmann asked.

"Yes. What was the question again?"

"What was the name your parents gave you?"

"Yes, that. Samantha Isis Ackerman. That's the name they gave me."

"Isis?"

"Yeah . Named after the Egyptian goddess," Samantha said. "It sort of runs in my family. Like my sister's is 'Athena' and my mom's is 'Hera'."

"Those are Greek though."

"Hey, I didn't get to choose my name. Anything else?"

"Yes. You are part of the US Navy, correct?"

"Commander. Second-in-command of the USS _Samp...son_ ," Samantha's voice trailed off.

"What happened to the _Sampson_?"

"We were attacked. The entire of DESRON 23 was attacked."

Samantha went on about the monster, the air attacks, and the demise of the squadron. She was the only survivor and somehow got infused with _Arizona_ 's spirit which allowed her to survive and return to Pearl Harbor under her own power. When she had arrived, the entire harbor was a graveyard. It was not until she started fishing bodies out of the water when she realized that the entire island was quiet.

"And you probably know the rest."

"Sure," Helfmann responded. "I heard that you shot down one of our choppers."

"That was a complete accident!" Samantha exclaimed. "I was trying to explain myself to the marines, but they wouldn't listen and kept threatening me! I was frightened and the guns went off by themselves!"

"Mm, hm," Helfmann nodded. "So let me recap your story. You were on your way to Japan to see what they were up to with this 'ship girl' enemy story. On the way, you were attacked by an unknown creature that had sunk the _John_ _Paul_ _Jones_ , the _Howard_ , the _Pinckney_ , _Sampson_ , and _Spruance_ , and the _Vandegrift_."

Samantha nodded.

"After getting caught in a lethal explosion, you somehow became the sole survivor because the _Arizona_ 's spirit picked you."

Samantha nodded enthusiastically.

"Then after hearing radio conversations, you heard that Pearl was under attack and you tried to make your way there, but you found out that you could walk on water."

Samantha nodded again, a smile forming on her face.

"You arrived at Pearl, everything in dead, destroyed, or on fire and that's when you got your equipment and armor. The next day you started pulling bodies from the sea and you continued until the _Essex_ showed up. Aware of the type of threat this new enemy poses, you went to warn them and they didn't believe you. So now here you are telling me that you are here to help."

"Yes! Exactly!" Samantha would have jumped out of her chair if she could.

"That's an interesting story."

Helfmann got up and headed towards the door.

"Don't you believe me?!" Samantha begged.

Helfmann said nothing as she paused before the door then left.

"No!" Samantha cried. "All this effort. All this trouble. And they still don't believe me!"

Tears ran down her cheeks as she wept. She was not able to help. Arizona could not help. There was no one left that wants to help.

"Maybe this is why they said no," Samantha said as she opened her eyes.

When she did, she caught sight of a tiny girl in front of her on the table. The girl held a tiny hammer and was waving her arms to get Samantha's attention.

* * *

Lindsey dropped a couple dollars into a donation box and headed back into the main part of the museum. The enclosed space amplified the conversations of hundreds of people, many of them tourists. The distinct scent of churros wafted up to her, briefly masking the conspicuous smell of fresh paint and steel. It probably is not the best place for one to gather her thoughts, but everyone has their preferred location.

Then her phone rang.

She dug her hand into her pocket and answered.

"Hello?"

"Hello? Lindsey?" the incoming voice was mixed with static.

"Tiana?"

"Yes, it's me," she answered. "Are you in a tunnel or something?"

Lindsey looked around as she realized the problem.

"Hold on."

The lieutenant slowly jogged to and up the staircase that led outside.

"Can you hear me now?" she asked.

"That's better," Tiana said with some interference. "Where are you anyway?"

"On the _Midway_."

"That makes sense. She has an armored flight deck, or have you forgotten?"

"Oh, shut up," Lindsey smiled. "How's it going?"

"Same as the last time I talked to you."

Lindsey's lips twitched into a frown.

"How's David?" she asked, concerned.

"He's doing well. Got promoted to commanding officer."

"Oooh." Lindsey breathed through her teeth the let out a heavy sigh.

"What was that about?" Tiana asked.

Lindsey rubbed her forehead contemplating whether to tell her mentor or not.

"I can hear your nail tapping on your phone. If it's troubling you that much, get it off your chest," Tiana said.

"Okay," Lindsey sighed. "I was called in to interview a woman that was captured at Pearl. She seems like a normal person except that she believes that she is a battleship."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. She described the enemies she encountered. One was a giant monster and the rest were UFOs. She claims to be Samantha Ackerman, the XO of the _Sampson_ and sole survivor of DESRON 23."

"Do you believe her?" Tiana asked.

"Uh..."

"Do you?"

"I...I don't know," Lindsey admitted. "I don't really have experience with aliens, ya know?"

"What about her gear? Did you see it?"

"Yeah. Four turrets with three guns in each. And she has an armored corset and arm braces."

"If she was a battleship, it sounds like she's a dreadnought," Tiana stated. "Did she mention what class she was?"

"The _Pennsylvania_ -class."

" _Pennsy_ or –"

" _Arizona_."

"Fuck," Tiana said nearly inaudible.

...

The tiny girl was working furiously, trying to pick the lock of Arizona's ankle shackle with her hammer. She showed a cute face of strain until an audible click. Leaving Arizona to remove the cuff herself, she ran to the other ankle. Again, she worked as fast as she could but something caught her attention.

She looked up and around. Dropping her attention on the restraints, she climbed up Arizona's pants leg and pulled something out of the pocket. It resembled a Bluetooth headset without the microphone. The girl held it up above her head. Arizona took it and put it into her ear. There was no sound. The only things she could hear were the girl's clinking hammer and the electrical buzz from the lights. A couple seconds later...

Ping!

Arizona tilted her head.

Ping!

The noise continued as whatever she was picking up grew in size and numbers.

"What does this mean?" Arizona asked.

The girl looked up and stuck her arms out, mimicking a plane before violently moving her arms back and forth, this time imitating machine gun fire.

"Oh, no!"

...

"If what she says is true, we are in big trouble," Tiana said.

"Why? Shouldn't we be grateful that to have something to combat a threat?" Lindsey asked.

"Yes, but have you seen the _Arizona_ 's service record?"

Lindsey stayed silent.

"The _Arizona_ hasn't done much more than a celebrity's bodyguard. She escorted President Wilson to Europe _after_ World War I had ended and stayed there for one day. In the '30s, she escorted President Hoover on vacation. Other than that, she has done nothing notable other than being one of the biggest man made explosions ever. Get what I mean now?"

"Ye...Yes," Lindsey responded.

In the background, people were clamoring as they spotted something in the distance.

"If America stands to get the slightest chance, you need to-"

Lindsey never heard the last of Tiana's words. Machine gun fire tore through the air, tracers flying everywhere. She dove for the ground and covered her head.

After the initial attack, she looked up and saw many civilians screaming and crying on the flight deck. Some lay motionless while others grabbed their wounds. A bomb dropped on the 'Top Gun' F-14 Tomcat at the stern, completely destroying it and damaging the aircraft nearby. Another bomb dropped, but thankfully this one bounced off the deck and into the harbor.

"Get to the hangar deck!" Lindsey shouted to anyone that could hear her as she ran for the stair case. "Get to the hangar deck! You'll be safe there!"

Lindsey ran back and forth along the deck, assisting and carrying anyone that needed help. She had just helped a young couple to the stairs. Before turning back, the man raised a question.

"Are you sure we'll be safe there?"

"She has an armored deck. She can take the hits," Lindsey said.

The navy lieutenant ran back out to help everyone else get to cover.

...

The building shook and the lights flickered in the interrogation room. Arizona and the tiny girl froze. They looked at each other briefly, then went to work on the last cuff that was on Arizona's wrist. At last, with a satisfying click, she was finally free. Picking up the girl, she went to the door. Unsurprisingly, it was locked.

"Great," Arizona growled in frustration. She looked back into the room and flicked her eyes between the chairs and the mirror. She set the girl down on the table and picked up a chair. With a swing, she brought the chair into the glass. The mirror spider-webbed and she swung again with similar results. One more strike and she is out, but this time it was a home run. The glass shattered, opening up into a dark empty room.

Arizona grabbed the girl. Before she did, the girl was patting her own head. Taking a guess at what she meant, Arizona put the girl on her head. The girl held on tightly as Arizona climbed through the window and sprinted through the halls.

When she burst through the door and into the sunlight, she was met by a familiar, yet frightening, sight. The aircraft that she had encountered out on the Pacific Ocean were now here attacking everything. No one seemed to notice her presence as they all ran frantically or were trying to shoot down the aircraft.

Near the water's edge, several soldiers were gunned down. Arizona picked up one of their M4A1 rifles and fired a decent burst into the aircraft. The gun clicked empty and she grabbed two spare magazines from the soldier, reloading one into the weapon and pocketing the other.

The girl pounded on Arizona's head with her tiny fist.

"What?" Arizona looked up and saw a bomb falling on her position. She jumped off the pier and landed ankle deep in the harbor.

"That was close," she panted. "Thanks."

The girl slid down her hair and onto her shoulder. The girl pointed ahead.

"Do you know where you're going?" Arizona asked.

The girl nodded.

"Guide me then." Arizona put the girl back on her head and skated through the harbor.

The girl looked behind them and yanked on Arizona's hair with her left hand. The battleship turned around and shot down an incoming aircraft. Three more approached her from the front and she took them down with the remaining rounds in the magazine. She was under the Coronado Bridge when she reloaded. A bomb exploded on the bridge, causing the middle section to collapse. Arizona dodged the falling debris easily despite being a battleship.

Looking ahead, she saw a aircraft launching torpedoes at the _Midway_.

...

Lindsey was searching around the helicopters, making sure that no one else was left on the flight deck. She was about to go below decks when several geysers shot up at the _Midway_ 's waterline. Lindsey was thrown off her feet by the impact. She picked herself up and sprinted for the island which was the closest sort of cover. Her path was cut off when an incendiary bomb spread a fire right in front of her. Another bomb started a fire and slowly backed her into the railing. With nowhere else to run, she vaulted herself over the port side and into the water below.

Arizona had just emptied the magazine into the retreating torpedo bombers when she saw Lindsey jump overboard. She tossed the rifle away and skated as hard as she could to the lieutenant. Lindsey broke the surface of the water when she saw Arizona approach with her hand outstretched. She was absolutely awestruck.

"Come on!" Arizona snapped Lindsey out of her daze.

She grabbed her hand and hauled her out of the water. Arizona backed up against the _Midway_ 's hull to avoid a strafing run. Once it was over, she broke away only to be blocked by another wall of bullets. Arizona knew she could take some hits, but there was no way Lindsey could survive a burst. The battleship zig-zagged back and forth as she tried to get to the USS _Carl Vinson_ , which was moored in front of the _Midway_. They were about to cross the net when the super-carrier erupted into flames. Arizona broke off, pushing her tired legs to a place where she can run aground.

Several minutes later, Arizona collapsed onto the sandy beach just outside of Naval Air Station North Island at the northern end of the Coronado peninsula. Lindsey exhaustedly fell down next to her. The tiny girl plopped down onto the beach and was clearing her boots and helmet of sand. The two women panted heavily and did not say a word.

Finally, with a gulp and a deep breath, Arizona broke the silence between them.

"Do you believe me now?"

"I never said I didn't," Lindsey responded as she sat upright. "What are we supposed to do now?"

"Honestly, I have no idea," Arizona admitted.

* * *

Steps echoed through the stony halls. No shadows were cast in the mysteriously lit cavern as a woman dressed in black walked away from the deployment area.

She is a Ru-class battleship; another main battleship class of the Abyss.

The battleship was passing through the section of the base where they could heal and recuperate if they were damaged in battle when she heard a low moan from one of the rooms. She stopped and heard a woman's soothing voice.

She took a couple steps back and peered into the room.

There was the horned woman. Her dress was ripped at her waist, showing a large scar.

She was comforting her monstrous pet.

"Oh! My sweetheart!" she whispered to her pet. "They hurt you really bad didn't they?"

Her pet moaned in confirmation.

She patted the top of her pet's head comfortingly.

"It's okay now. You are safe at home with mama. I'm here with you."

She continued to pat its head as it descended onto the floor. Its breaths turned into soft and gentle snores.

"We'll kill them all for revenge. Revenge for what they did to you and revenge for what they did to me," she whispered to it before carefully getting up to leave to not accidentally disturb it. After she exited the room the light dimmed and a thick stone door lowered.

The woman walked pass the Ru-class.

"Hey, Hime," the Ru-class said.

The other woman ignored her and continued walking. The Ru-class followed.

"Hime," she repeated, raising her voice.

No response.

The Ru-class made a disgusted sigh.

"Princess!"

The horned woman turned around.

"Answer me when I address you!" the Ru-class said.

"Call me by my proper name then," the Princess said simply.

The Ru-class flicked her hair and ignored the response.

"Why do you still want to go and attack them?" the Ru-class asked. "You already took out an entire squadron of human destroyers."

"I have a score I want to settle," the Princess said.

"So does every girl in this fleet. We all want something."

"Not as much as I want mine."

The Ru-class groaned as she pushed her index finger on her forehead.

"Sometimes I think you only got this powerful because of all that pent up anger inside of you," the Ru-class said.

"If you knew that some diva was dancing on your grave, you would feel the same way."

* * *

Night has fallen. On a regular night, lights of many different and beautiful colors would illuminate the San Diego skyline. However, this night is not a regular night. The city glowed in the predominant color of flames as fires continued to burn. Smoke choked the night sky out of any stars or moonlight.

Even the USS _Midway_ has lost all her seasonal colors. Normally at this time of the year she would be lit up like a Christmas tree, adding to the skyline. Tonight, she stands in darkness, abandoned, charred, smoldering, and covered in blood. Today, she had just experienced the death and pain that her elders had to endure. The only difference is that _Midway_ was not able to fight back.

Then there was a soft pat. It originated from near the stern. The quiet pats slowly passed the island as it neared the F-8 Crusader on the catapult. Finally, a gorgeous woman emerged from the smoke. She continued to walk towards the bow, her long, dark, silky hair waving in the wind. She put the hands on the railing and closed her eyes. Breathing in, the familiar scents hit the roof of her mouth.

"Hm..." she breathed out and opened her eyes. "I never thought I would find it so comforting. The taste of the salt on the ocean breeze, the distinct scent of fresh paint and steel...the iron smell of blood."

Looking across the harbor, the light of the burning _Carl Vinson_ reflected in her eyes.

"Mm, pity. Looks like United States of America will call upon me for assistance once more," she remarked. "And I was starting to believe that I received my well earned rest."

"'There is no peace,' says the Lord, 'for the wicked.'"

The woman turned around and walked back the way she came.

"Especially when one has been an awoken giant," she said as she disappeared into the smoke.

* * *

 **A/N: *A tiny girl walks in with a piece of chalk and starts writing on a black board***

 **Apparently Wolf did not expect this chapter to be so long. There was also a small mistake. Apparently the _Vandegrift_ was decommissioned already by the time this story starts. She was decommissioned in February 19, 2015.**

 **Arizona also is (or was) on the list of one of the largest man-made none-nuclear explosions. In any case, it could be comparable to Hood, but has nothing on Yamato.**

 **Wolf is a bit of a pinhead if**

 ***Gets picked up and moved away***

 **I think they get it. Yeah, as stated at the beginning of the chapter, I do make mistakes. Don't we all?**

 **Ready for some random discussion? Yes? No? Maybe so?**

 **Anyway, I had spent some time in the Five Nights at Freddy's/RWBY crossover section. Yes, I do have some interest in the FNAF back story, but got annoyed after the first game. Like how Call of Duty: World at War had a good story for the Zombies mode, but they completely screwed it up after Black Ops.**

 **Getting off topic. So I was wondering why there were not any Kantai Collection/FNAF crossovers, especially with the characters in Kancolle. What I picture is something based in FNAF 1 with the Kongou sisters taking place of the animatronics and the admiral as the night guard. Another version I pictured would be Fubuki, Mutsuki, Yuudachi (in full Nightmare of Solomon mode), and Shimakaze (as Foxy). Another set up I thought of would be FNAF 3 with various destroyers as the night guard (Akatsuki sisters mainly) with Nagato as Springtrap. Of course, she would be in full on Nagamon mode.**

 **These were just some possible Kancolle/FNAF crossovers I thought of. I could write them myself, but I don't believe I would be too good at it. If anyone out there wants to take a shot at the crossover, feel free to do so.**

 **So that's about it for now. Please leave a comment or review and feel free to send me a PM if you have any questions. I hope to see you guys in the next chapter. Stay smart, stay safe, and I wish you a Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year.**


	3. Such a Terrible Gift

**A/N: I do not own the songs shown in this chapter. Also, please read the post-chapter A/N before reviewing. There's a chance that any questions may be answered there.**

* * *

 _This chapter is dedicated to_  
 _Buddy_  
 _December 17, 2006 – October 12, 2016_

 _A timid and friendly Shetland Sheepdog and was also my family's first family pet._  
 _He was there for most of my life and will always have a place in my heart._  
 _He died of cancer in my mom's arms just days before my birthday._  
 _It was…_  
 _Such a Terrible Gift_

-3-

"NO!"

A shriek pierced through the room, forcefully dragging Souryuu from her slumber.

She rubbed her eyes and pulled back the curtain that hung on her bunk. Her blurry vision was dominated by darkness. Only a small amount of light seeped through the window curtains from a sun that has not yet crested the horizon.

"No!" the shriek came again.

"Hiryuu!" Souryuu exclaimed.

She jumped off from the top bunk and swept Hiryuu's curtain aside. Hiryuu was rolling around in her bed while screaming at the top of her lungs.

"No! No! Naaaaaah!"

"Hiryuu!" Souryuu shook her friend and division mate. "Hiryuu! Hiryuu!"

After thrashing around a few more moments, Hiryuu opened her eyes and froze. She stared at Souryuu. Tears welled up in her eyes and she hugged Souryuu and started to sob.

-o-

It was still early morning when Souryuu finished dressing. She wore a green kimono top with the ends of the sleeves fading to grey. The pleated skirt she wore was of a darker shade of green compared to her kimono and she had a wooden apron that covered the front of her skirt that bears a resemblance to the stern part of her flight deck (her equipment and original counterpart). Her dark blue hair was tied in a two side up twintail style. She slipped on a pair of white socks and grey sandals that resemble miniature models of IJN _Souryuu_ 's hull.

Before walking out of the room, she looked back at Hiryuu on the bed. The reincarnation of IJN _Hiryuu_ had her mouth partially open and was fast asleep, breathing soundly. Souryuu walked out and quietly closed the door behind her.

She stood in front of her room for a couple minutes thinking about what to do. She decided to go talk to the one that she – along with most of other Kanmusu – can confide in and started to walk towards what is now the mess hall for this section of Yokosuka Naval Base.

Yokosuka Naval Base has changed drastically since the advent of the Shinkaisei-kan and the Kanmusus. Or at least for this certain section of the base. The original plan was to convert the entire base for Kanmusu use with the ability for regular warships to dock, rearm, and repair, but the Americans needed somewhere to park their Seventh Fleet. So the Kanmusu were huddled off into a section of the base where they can get access to the ocean, but be far from the prying eyes of the Americans as the base was full of women, and beautiful ones at that. Young, mature, and even preteen kids. The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force even took precautions against their own countrymen and had most of the interior guards of that section of the base be female.

Presently, the Kanmusu base resembled a small college town. The barracks were turned into dorms, plants and trees were added, and overall this section was a lot more luxurious than a regular military base. Souryuu herself would have been fine living on a normal base, but maybe it would give some comfort to those under the enlistment age.

Souryuu approached the mess hall which is now a restaurant. She walked through the door and found it to be empty. Given how early in the day it was, it was not too much of a surprise. On the right was a staircase that led up to the second floor and a bar just beyond that. Along the left wall were tables with four chairs each and in the back were where the booths were.

On the corner of the bar nearest to the door of the restaurant was a page-a-day calendar. It showed that it was Tuesday, December 8th.

Footsteps came down the stairs and revealed a woman in a pink buttoned shirt and a long blue skirt. Her waist length brown hair had a red hairclip and ribbon.

"Oh! Good morning, Souryuu-san!" she said in a soft voice.

"Good morning, Mamiya-san," Souryuu replied with a small smile.

"Is there something I can get you?" Mamiya, the woman with the spirit of food supply ship IJN _Mamiya_ within her, asked as she entered the bar.

"Tea please," Souryuu said. "Also, is Houshou-san around?"

"Yes, she's in the kitchen," Mamiya replied as she tied the back of her apron. "Would you like to talk to her?"

"Yes, please."

"I'll go fetch her and that tea for you," Mamiya said with a smile.

As she went into the kitchen, Souryuu walked along the bar and sat on one of the bar stools. It was then she realized that she was not the only customer in the restaurant. A little farther down at one of the tables were the embodiments of two of the four _Myoukou_ -class heavy cruisers; Nachi and Ashigara.

"Souryuu?" a caring voice reached the carrier's ears.

Souryuu looked up and saw a woman holding a tray with two cups standing in front of her.

She had on a pink kimono top, navy blue tasuki, and an equally blue hakama. Her long black hair was tied into a ponytail with a single black ribbon.

"Houshou-san," Souryuu smiled.

"How are you?" Houshou asked as she put one cup in front of Souryuu and the other behind the counter for herself.

"I'm doing okay. Thank you," Souryuu said as she picked up the cup. She looked at the tea in the cup and couldn't bring herself to drink it. "However…I don't think Hiryuu is."

"Is she okay?"

"Physically, yes. But she's been having nightmares. Dreadful nightmares."

Houshou tilted her head slightly and said nothing. Concern was creeping onto her face, however.

"These nightmares make her scream as if she was being tormented. And it always occurs just before dawn. I heard her scream four times, but she told me that today was the fifth time she had that dream. From what she told me, each one seems different, but they all have similar elements. She along with Kaga would be ganging up on this one woman."

"Is she able to recognize this woman?" Houshou asked.

"No. It's always been fuzzy to her, but she always recalls seeing red hair," Souryuu explained. "She and Kaga would torture this woman in such painful ways until Hiryuu picks up a two-barreled shotgun and blows out the woman's heart. After that, she and Kaga would always get...ripped apart."

"By what?"

"Something. She never saw it or she can't remember."

There were a couple moments of silence.

"Do you have any idea what this means?" Souryuu asked, her body shaking lightly.

"No," Houshou said. "I'll give it some thought."

Houshou and Souryuu continue to interact when a new patron walked through the door.

She had on white gloves and a purple blazer with white trim on top of a white button shirt with a black neck tab. The pencil skirt she wore had a forest camouflage pattern to it and she wore white pantyhose along with white high-heeled boots with brown and green splotches. Her black hair was tied into a bun. She waved at Houshou as she passed and reached the two Myoukou sisters.

"Ah! Myoukou-neesan!" Ashigara greeted her.

"Hello," Nachi said.

Nachi wore a similar outfit to Myoukou's, but her skirt was black and she wore black and gray knee-high high-heeled boots. Her black hair was tied into a long side ponytail that came out from the left side of her head and easily passed her waist.

Ashigara, on the other hand, wore something simpler. She wore white gloves and pantyhose like her two sister ships and a black pencil skirt like Nachi. However, she wore a purple short-sleeved blouse with puffy shoulders and a small white mantle along with simple white high-heeled boots. Her long brunette hair sported a white hairband with a horn (that had a similar resemblance to the arm of her aircraft crane) on the right side of her temple. When she smiles, one can see her canines that are more pronounced than the average human.

Ashigara pulled out the chair next to her allowing Myoukou to sit next to her. Nachi sat across from Ashigara. Mamiya asked Myoukou if she would like something to eat and Myoukou responded that she would have what her sister ships were having which was a basically a standard Japanese breakfast.

"I visited Haguro," Myoukou said, indicating the third oldest of the _Myoukou_ -class, but youngest out of the four of them biologically.

"Is she okay?" Ashigara asked.

"Akashi says she'll be able to pull through. She just needs to rest and take it easy."

"That's good to hear," Nachi commented with a smile. "What about Secretary Ship Nagato?"

"She was unconscious when I went to the infirmary," answered Myoukou.

"Is she alright?!" Ashigara asked with worry.

"Her heart rate and breathing seemed strong enough."

"That's good to hear," Ashigara said with a relief. "It'd be terrible to lose one of the Big Seven."

"I thought you hated hearing her ramble on about the Big Seven," Nachi teased.

"I do! But from a firepower standpoint, she and Mutsu are the most powerful battleships besides Yamato and Musashi. And with the Europeans busy in the Atlantic and no word from _them_ , we won't be able to get any reinforcements anytime soon."

"You're right," Myoukou said. "It'd be bad to lose so much firepower. It's good that she can survive after taking so many hits."

Myoukou continued, failing to notice Nachi tensing.

"And luckily Haguro was able to survive. I'd hate to lose any of you."

Nachi wiped her mouth with her napkin.

"Excuse me," was all she said before standing up and walking out of the restaurant.

The brown eyes of Myoukou, Ashigara, and Mamiya followed her out.

"Was…Was it something I said?" Myoukou asked.

"To be honest? Yes. Yes it was," answered Ashigara.

Mamiya served Myoukou her food and was thanked. She then looked at the half eaten breakfast at Nachi's seat.

"Should I clean it up?" she asked.

"No," Ashigara shook her head lightly. "She might come back in."

Mamiya gave a small bow and went back behind the counter. Myoukou half-heatedly nibbled on her food.

"What was it I said?" she asked her sister ship.

"You mentioned Nagato being able to take a lot of hits," Ashigara answered.

"But as a battleship, she can."

"I know you mean well, but you mentioned that you'd hate losing any of us _sister_ ships."

There was silence as Ashigara's words marinated in Myoukou's head.

"Oh," Myoukou put her hand up to her mouth. "Oh, god."

"Yeah," Ashigara said solemnly.

"I didn't mean to hurt her. Knowing why she dislikes me in the first place."

"You can apologize to her. Just tell her that you are sorry for reminding her again."

"Should I tell her to put her energy in the present instead of the past too?

Ashigara shook her head.

"Leave that to me. She would not take it well from you. She'd think you would be covering your own ass."

Suddenly, there was the wail of a siren.

"All personnel. Standby for deployment orders," a voice announced over the intercom.

It was the voice of their admiral!

The two women jumped out of their chairs and ran towards the building on the dock where the equipment of the heavy cruisers were stored.

Houshou joined Mamiya at the door and called out to a teenage girl as she was running passed.

"What's going on?" Houshou asked.

" _Kaga_ 's in trouble!" shouted the destroyer girl without stopping.

 _Kaga?!_

Houshou's heart panicked when she heard the name of the carrier. As fast as she was able to, she dashed towards the admiral's office, hoping that she could convince the admiral to let her sortie to protect one of those that she came to see as her children.

When she reached the admiral's office, she furiously knocked on the door before letting herself in. When she entered, her jaw was slightly agape with confusion when she saw Kaga along with Akagi, Mutsu, and the admiral; Admiral Keisuke Tabata.

"Kaga," Houshou breathed. "You're safe."

"Yes, I am," responded the stoic brunette woman with a left side ponytail and blue hakama.

"But I heard that Kaga was in trouble," Houshou admitted.

"That'd be the helicopter destroyer," answered Akagi, the woman with long black hair and red hakama. Her left arm was in a sling.

Houshou breathed a sigh of relief.

Acting Secretary Ship Mutsu, a tall woman with short brown hair, a tank top that exposes her midriff, a miniskirt, and a headband with two antennae, went back to the status report.

"The Shinkaisei-kan have a force of at least ten destroyers, and several light cruisers," Mutsu said.

"Do we have an exact number?" the admiral asked.

"No, sir."

"How about any patrols in the area?"

"We have Tenryuu and Tatsuta with Destroyer Division Six, but they are would not be able to assist within the time it would take for a heavy cruiser response team to get there by helicopter."

"Who's able to gear up in the quickest time possible?"

"Ooyodo reports that heavy cruisers Myoukou, Nachi, Ashigara, and Furutaka, and destroyer Ushio are already at the docks."

"Good. Have them gear up and wait by the helicopter. I want Kaga to support them," Keisuke said, gesturing to the woman in front of him.

Kaga was about to confirm her role when she was cut off.

"I'm sorry sir, but Kaga is not fit to sortie," Akagi butted in.

Everyone in the room looked at the carrier woman.

"She is not mentally fit right now. She is easily distracted."

"No, I am ready to sortie at any time," Kaga countered. "If you wish me to go, then I will go."

"No, Kaga," Akagi protested, raising her voice. "You'll get yourself sunk if you go out now!"

The two carriers of the First Carrier Division continued to argue which was something that they rarely ever do, if at all.

"If you need a carrier, I'll go!" Akagi told the admiral.

"You will not be combat effective with that arm of yours!" Kaga said.

"Then I'll just take it off!" Akagi said as she began to loosen the strap.

"No! I'll go!"

All eyes laid on Houshou.

"Houshou…" the admiral said.

"You just need some air support, right?" Houshou asked.

He nodded.

"And the enemies are only destroyers and light cruisers, correct?" she asked, looking at Mutsu.

"That we know of, yes" the battleship nodded.

"I know I'm considered weak, but with an air wing of A5M's, D3A's, and B5N's, I _can_ still provide support."

The admiral stared at silently at Houshou. The carrier's eyes burned with fierce determination. The fierce determination of a mother's love and protection for their child.

"Permission granted, ma'am," the admiral said. "You may go gear up and wait by the helicopter."

"Thank you," Houshou said as she gave a brief bow before heading out of the office. As she made her way to the dock where the carriers' equipment was kept, the admiral's voice came over the intercom instructing the chosen Kanmusu to get themselves equipped.

* * *

Myoukou had secured her equipment to the metal plate that was, in turn, attached to her black waist belt. The gear looked like two separate hulls attached to metal arms so they could move with less restrictions than a battleship's equipment. The hull on her right carried three scaled down 20.3-cetimeter double gun turrets, with the two forward turrets in a superfiring layout. The left hull had a pair of superfiring turrets and an aircraft catapult running sideways along the outer part of the hull. Each hull had grips and triggers to allow Myoukou to keep aiming and firing if something had malfunctioned. Two metal garters (one on each leg) attached to her thighs carried the triple-tube torpedo launchers. Her gear was white with brown and green splotches just like her boots.

Nachi had the same gear as Myoukou, but it was colored in a dark grey. She was helping Ashigara with her weapons.

"Oh!" Ashigara exclaimed and put her hand over her stomach when Nachi tightened her waist belt. "That is way too tight."

Nachi moved behind her sister ship and secured a triple-tube torpedo launcher on the belt.

"Well, when you get the upgrade, you wouldn't want to have your guns fall off into the water now, would you?" Nachi asked.

"No, I wouldn't," Ashigara said as she tightened the leather straps on her thighs that held two more launchers.

Like her outfit, Ashigara's equipment was simpler than her sisters'. A twin turret sat on each of her shoulders and one turret was attached to her right arm guard. At the end of the guard near her elbow was a small structure resembling the face of IJN _Ashigara_ 's superstructure. It was mirrored on her left arm, but instead of another turret, the guard was lined with miniature single-barrel 25-millimeter anti-aircraft guns.

Furutaka, the embodiment of the _Furutaka_ -class heavy cruiser of the same name, was quite different from the Myoukous. She was shorter than them, the top of her brunette head not passing the chin of any of the three that were present. She had hairclips above her right eye and she wore a black bodysuit that covered her body from her hips to her shoulders and a serafuku with a crop-top and dark blue pleated skirt.

Her equipment would be an absolute nightmare for those that have symmetrical obsessive compulsive disorder. Her right arm carried a hulk of machinery with two superfiring twin turrets and a bridge-like superstructure on her shoulder which was held in place by a chain. On her back, she wore a funnel like a backpack and a mechanical arm held a third, black turret on her left side. On her left leg, she wore a black thigh high stocking and a metal garter with an aircraft catapult attached to the spot where the Myoukous have their torpedo launchers. Further down, she wore a dark grey knee-high metal boot with a quadruple torpedo launcher on the ankle. Her right leg was bare with the exception of a black knee-high sock and a loafer with a red sole.

The incarnation of the 20th _Fubuki_ -class destroyer, Ushio, was not much shorter than Furutaka. She had long black hair and also wore a more modest version of the serafuku. Like Ashigara, she had leather straps attaching two triple-tube torpedo launchers attached to her thighs. As a backpack, she had a smoke stack and an antenna. She wore black stockings and metallic loafers and carried a single double gun turret modeled after the Type 3 127-millimeter naval gun.

The five Kanmusu approached the Sikorsky MH-53E Sea Dragon helicopter. Ushio brought up the rear and looked behind her, knowing that they would have a carrier joining them. Upon spotting Houshou, she shook Furutaka's shoulder.

"Hey! Houshou's coming!" she shouted above the thunderous blades of the helicopter.

The rest of the cruisers stopped just before the ramp and waited for Houshou to approach.

Her gear consisted of a wooden flight deck on hanging off her left shoulder, a T-shaped mast attached to the quiver on her back that was full of arrows, a kyuudou bow, and yugake glove on her right hand. Her sandals were similar to Souryuu's, but hers were modeled after her namesake.

As she passed her fellow Kanmusu, they all nodded their heads in respect and waited for her to get into the helicopter before they entered themselves. Once they were all onboard, the ramp closed and their transport rose into the air. After a few seconds, it turned and headed southwest towards the Yokosuka-Kure Naval District border.

"Alright," Houshou said. "The _Kaga_ was on its way to Yokosuka from Kure when they picked up radar readings of the Shinkaise-kan."

"Why didn't she have escorts?" Furutaka asked.

"They were sailing in tandem with Tenryuu's patrol, who were screening it," Houshou said. "But the enemy popped up between the _Kaga_ and her patrol, so Tenryuu has to close the distance which would be about the time we reach them. We only know of destroyers and some light cruisers. We support the patrol and escort the _Kaga_ into Yokosuka. Is that clear?"

The Kanmusu all confirmed with a confident "Yes, ma'am!"

However, not moments later, the pilot spoke.

"What are we supposed to do about them?" he asked, pointing to the ocean below them.

The women looked out the windows and saw five ships below them, one of them with a flattop with the number '6' on the flight deck.

It was the command ship USS _Blue Ridge_ , the amphibious assault ship USS _Bonhomme Richard_ , along with two _Arleigh Burke_ -class destroyers and a _Ticonderoga_ -class cruiser heading in the direction of where JDS _Kaga_ was.

"Son of a bitch!" Ashigara exclaimed with annoyance. "What should we do?"

"We leave them," said Houshou, her battle-hardened side creeping into her usually demure personality.

"Why not help them?" Ushio asked.

"We have our orders," Houshou solidified. "And they are to support Tenryuu's patrol and _Kaga_. We already tried to warn the Americans about the Shinkaisei-kan. What they do is on them."

Everyone murmured that they understood.

"Open the back," Houshou ordered the pilot.

 _The least I could do is scout for them._

As the ramp opened, Houshou approached it and nocked an arrow with two red fletching and a single white one. She released the arrow and after at least a dozen meters in flight, with a brief burst of light, the arrow transformed into a miniature aircraft modeled after the A5M fighter.

* * *

Tenryuu rushed ahead, leaving her sister ship, Tatsuta, and the rest of Destroyer Division Six – which consisted of Akatsuki, Hibiki, and Ikazuchi – to catch up.

The embodiment of the light cruiser had both of her golden eyes sparkle with glee and her mouth in a big grin. Her fingerless gloves rolled up the sleeves of her white button shirt and dark grey cardigan. The purple lights on the pair of mechanical ears that floated next to her head beamed brightly with anticipation.

She could see the Shinkaisei-kan destroyers which looked like large finless fish. They were attacking the lower hull of the _Kaga_ with the cannons that were in their mouths, but were only able to do superficial damage at most.

When she got close enough, Tenryuu splashed the enemy like an ice skater shaving ice from the top of a frozen pond. Her shoulder length purple hair that was dyed purple, her checkered tie, and dark skirt waved in the wind.

"My name is Tenryuu!" she says, pointing her thumb at herself. "Heh, heh. You scared?"

The destroyers turned their attention to Tenryuu and attacked. Even though she had guns attached to her backpack superstructure, she opted for another approach.

She reached down on her left hip and pulled out a single-edged sword. It resembled a katana, but it had a thicker blade with the cutting edge in red like the waterline on a ship.

One of the destroyers moved first and leapt out of the water. Tenryuu sliced it in half like a watermelon, causing dark blue blood to stain the ocean. Another destroyer fired at her and she deflected the round, causing a deep resonating "Ding!" She swung and took off what seems to be the head and left the lower jaw attached to the rest of the body. Three more destroyers jumped at her. She cut through one, though it got stuck on the blade, and stabbed the other two.

Sensing no more enemies in the area, she lowered her guard.

Looking at her sword, she made a mock grimace and commented "Eww! An I-class kebab!"

It was about this time when she heard helicopter rotors and the rest of her patrol caught up.

"Hey!" Tenryuu shouted over the radio, waving her hand at the Sea Dragon. "You're a little late to the party! But I got some skewered I-class if you want some!"

"No, thanks!" Ashigara answered. "I already had breakfast!"

"And I'm about to lose mine," Nachi said, jokingly covering her mouth.

Tenryuu just laughed and kicked the lifeless corpses off her sword before running the blade through the sea water to get most of the blue stains off.

"I'm surprised you managed to hold the attack on your own," Myoukou complimented.

"Well, when there're only five DDs, it's not difficult," Tenryuu said.

"Five? But weren't there at least fifteen plus a couple light cruisers?" Furutaka asked.

Tenryuu shrugged.

"I saw five and I sunk five and I'm not picking up anything else."

"Hey," Tatsuta called out. "Why don't you join us in the water?"

"No thank you," Houshou kindly declined. "I think we'll set down on the _Kaga_."

"Suite yourself," Tenryuu said as she lazily swung her sword, creating an arc of droplets before sheathing it.

While Houshou is kind and helping by nature, she was not very keen on staying close to Tenryuu for long periods of time as the host the spirit of the light cruiser had chosen was a bit of a delinquent. Which is why she has short, dark purple hair, as does her sister ship, Tatsuta.

Tatsuta is older in both body and spirit. She wore a white, high-collar shirt with a purple ribbon bow tie. She had a breastless, black, long sleeved dress that reached her ankles. There was a slit in the dress that showed the purple of the interior fabric.

As for her equipment, she had basically the same layout as Tenryuu, but she had triple torpedo tubes in place of guns and a floating mechanical halo instead of ears. The lights on the gear glowed in a rich yellow. She also carried a glaive instead of a sword.

The halo was a nice touch when Tatsuta first became a Kanmusu. She had an angelic personality, not too different from Houshou or Mamiya.

But everything changed when Tenryuu showed up.

Tatsuta had long silky black hair when she walked onto the base. She was very proud of it and maintained it meticulously, easily spending hours on just brushing alone.

Then one day, Tenryuu thought it was a good idea to prank her sister ship. There were many stories and rumors about how it was done, but there was one that seemed the most popular.

-o-

One day, Tatsuta was reading a love story as she had a taste for the romantic. Her mechanical halo was on the end table and Tenryuu was behind the sofa, brushing her sister ship's hair. Tatsuta assumed that Tenryuu's offer to brush her hair was a gesture of kindness. And she would be correct…mostly.

What she did not know was that Tenryuu had a bottle of purple hair dye and a fairy sitting behind the sofa.

As Tenryuu brushed Tatsuta's hair, the fairy carefully dyed, Tatsuta's hair in a deep purple. Tatsuta had not felt the fairy's actions, only Tenryuu's hands and the brush.

"Alright, I've finished," Tenryuu declared.

Tatsuta set down the novel and ran her fingers through her hair.

"Not bad, Tenryuu," Tatsuta commented. "Not bad at all."

As she was brushing her hair with her fingers, Tatsuta spotted a lock of her hair and discovered that it was purple.

"Not bad at all~" Tatsuta repeated, her tone of voice changing from her normally angelic tone.

"Tell me, Tenryuu. Why did you dye my hair?"

"So we could look more like sister ships?" Tenryuu said hesitantly, a hint of fear in her voice.

"Ah," Tatsuta nodded understandably. "That makes sense."

She stood up, but did not face her junior yet. Tenryuu slowly stepped back until she was against the wall.

"Tell me, Tenryuu," Tatsuta said. "What do you think of a person that touch a girl's special parts without permission?"

Tenryuu was visibly shaking in her knees and the only sound that came out of her mouth was a soft, terrified, squeak.

Tatsuta turned to face her.

" _Ara_ , _ara_. No words, hm?"

Her halo shot off the table and took its place above her head, its lights glowing red.

"Maybe you'll talk when someone touches your special parts. What do you think, Tenryuu?"

Tatsuta tilted her head and smiled.

-o-

What came after that became the stuff of rumors. No one knew what had happened.

What everyone could agree on was that Tenryuu requested to be in a different room. In a different building. On the other side of the base.

However, the best she got was another building on the opposite side of the destroyers' complex. The little ones took a liking to the cruiser and would often go to her for comfort, help, or just to hang out.

Even though Tenryuu puts on a tomboyish, fearless personality, it was no secret that she is intimidated by her own sister ship. It does not stop them from being an effective team on the battlefield.

The helicopter landed on the flight deck and the occupants disembarked. They were well received as they were the protectors of the sea. The deck crew immediately started refueling their helicopter and Houshou thanked them for it.

The cruisers and destroyer hung around on the deck in case another attack occurred. If it was anything like the previous one, Tenryuu's patrol, whom were still on the ocean, would be able to take care of it.

Houshou walked to the front of the ship and stood vigilant. She nocked another arrow and drew her bow back. Heading into the wind, the breeze flowing through her hair and around her clothes, she released a scout.

She closed her eyes and focused on what the scout was telling her; late morning blue skies, puffy white clouds, and an empty ocean that went for miles.

Focusing on the plane she left over the Americans, she sensed that it was drifting away from the ships.

* * *

Later in the day, the US Navy ships that they had passed earlier could be seen on the horizon. There were no more incidents and Tenryuu's patrol sailed close by. The light cruiser had a particularly bored expression on her face. Houshou had not moved from the bow of the _Kaga_. Myoukou paced the width of the deck, biting her index finger through her glove. She stole glances at Nachi, who was sitting on the ramp of the helicopter they came in.

Finally, Myoukou walked towards Nachi. With each step closer, she got more and more nervous. Her mind became scrambled even though she had the exact words she wanted to say seconds before. She could feel herself freeze and burn simultaneously when she stood next to Nachi.

"Uh…Um…" she began.

Nachi just kept looking out to sea.

"I…uh…I…I-I-I would like to apologize," Myoukou finally fumbled.

"For what?" Nachi asked quizzically.

"For…For what I said earlier today. At Mamiya's."

"This isn't the first time it happened. You will do it again at some point."

"But, I'm sorry," Myoukou whispered. "Sorry…"

Without another word, Myoukou ran out away, unaware that she passed Ashigara.

"You really shouldn't be so hard on her," Ashigara said to Nachi as she sat down next to her. "You know none of it was her fault."

Nachi sighed and held back her sorrow.

"But why me? Why did _Nachi_ choose me to fill in her shoes?"

"I am not the one to ask," Ashigara explained.

A shout came from the bow. The two heavy cruisers looked over to see Ushio running towards them while shouting.

"Houshou lost contact with one of her fighters!"

They both immediately stood up and began scanning with their radar and eyes. The sky was orange and the late afternoon sun made it hard to spot anything to the west. Ashigara squinted and saw a black line in front of the sun. The line grew bigger as it came closer.

"There it is!" Ashigara pointed towards the sun.

The fairy piloted aircraft was belching black smoke as it approached the _Kaga_. The other aircraft Houshou had launched pulled up alongside it. The damaged fighter made a sharp dip in altitude before flying in a relatively straight line. The smoke began to go in all directions as it headed towards them.

Houshou slowly walked backwards a couple of steps before turning around and shouting at everyone on the flight deck.

"Everyone, move out of the way! Clear the deck as much as possible! She's coming in for a crash landing!"

The deck cleared of people except for Houshou. The A5M was coming in from the port bow. The flight path became increasingly erratic and the escorting fighter pulled off to avoid getting hit.

"Come on, come on, come on…" Houshou whispered to herself, willing the fighter on. Her heart jumped when she saw it do another sharp dive. And then another. No speed was bled as it was almost on top of the carrier. The aircraft listed to the left and the wing caught the flight deck. The nose slammed into the deck as the engine burst into flames and cartwheeled. After several revolutions, the belly landed hard.

Several crewmen with fire extinguishers ran towards the miniature aircraft. Myoukou got there first and ordered them to wait. The fairy pilot was unconscious. Myoukou gingerly used her index and thumb to pull the fairy out by the head, before cupping the tiny girl in her hands. The crewmen got to work putting out the fire.

While all this was going on, the second A5M landed on the _Kaga_ 's deck successfully and taxied towards Houshou. The fairy shut off the engine and saluted before transforming back into an arrow. Houshou knelt down to pick it up and put it back into her quiver.

Standing back up, she quickly launched four more aircraft. She ordered two to go towards the American ships and the other two to stay with her. She was pulling another arrow from her quiver when…

"Shinkaisei-kan!"

Furutaka's shout threw everyone into alert.

"Where?" Houshou demanded.

"Uh, roughly ten miles ahead of us," Ashigara said hastily. "About ten degrees off _Kaga_ 's bow."

"That's where…"

Everyone stared past the bow, expressions of dread written clearly on their faces.

"My squadron! Back to the helicopter!" Houshou ordered. "Myoukou, I need you to stay here and help Tenryuu in case they attack here."

"Yes, ma'am!"

"Also, get the captain to hail the Americans and tell them to get to their battle stations and that they will be in big trouble if they don't."

Houshou put her hand up as she blocked her face from the harsh wind the helicopter generated and it lifted off once she got onboard.

"What enemies are we looking at?" Houshou asked.

"Rounding up, about twenty," Ashigara reported. "We can't tell if there're anymore underwater until we can get our feet on the water."

"Are you girls okay with a little walking?" Houshou asked.

"Hell, yeah, we are!" Ushio declared.

"Okay. Pilot! When we are three miles from the Americans, we are dropping these girls off. I'll stay up here with you."

"Copy that," he said.

It did not take long to reach the drop off point, but when they did, one of the _Arleigh Burkes_ was already ablaze. The pilot kept the helicopter just above the waves and lowered the ramp. Ushio jumped out, followed by Furutaka, Nachi, and Ashigara. Once they hit the water, they skied at the fastest speed they could.

"I got targets in my sights!" Ushio said.

"Fire!" Ashigara cried out.

The heavy cruisers and destroyer fired all of their forward facing guns. The shells shot through the air and the enemy formation was dotted by explosions and splashes. The first salvo wiped out quite a few of the Shinkaisei-kan destroyers.

"You are free to engage all targets. Send those monsters back to the depths!"

The team of four slammed right into the enemy formation. Strike aircraft from Houshou flew over them as they broke off in pairs. Ushio and Furutaka ran right into the middle of the destroyers' formation and started picking them off. Nachi and Ashigara chased down various classes of light cruisers. Houshou's aircraft strafed and picked off stragglers. Altogether, the enemy numbers began to dwindle.

Not one of them stopped to look at the Americans, but no doubt that they would be dumbfounded at what they were seeing.

Nachi had just finished pummeling a light cruiser with her fist when her senses made a large, nearly painful pulse. She stumbled and put a hand on her head as if she had a sudden headache.

"What is i-" Ashigara began.

Her answer came in a hail of heavy shells. She along with the rest of her team disappeared in a cloud of fire, smoke, and water.

"Ashigara!" Houshou shouted worriedly. "Nachi, Ushio, Furutaka!"

"What's happened?!" Myoukou demanded.

When the smoke dissipated, the Kanmusu were unscathed, except for wet clothes and some trivial bruises. Quickly looking around, bodies of their enemy choked the water around them.

"Huh. Friendly fire," Ushio said with a smirk.

"Their shots straddled us!" Nachi reported. "Everyone, spread out before those battleships can fire again!"

They dispersed while making their way towards the American ships.

"Incoming shells!" Ashigara shouted.

She and her teammates braced themselves for the barrage, but the shells flew over them. Amidst the columns of water, one of the _Arleigh Burkes_ and the _Ticonderoga_ -class went up in guided missile cruiser started to list, but was able to stay afloat. The destroyer was not so lucky. A spread of torpedoes from an unknown source streaked towards the American forces. Three powerful explosions ripped the destroyer apart and two geysers of water shot up from the _Blue Ridge_ 's hull.

"Submarine!" Ushio informed.

Enemy aircraft began to dive onto them.

"Furutaka, help get survivors out of the water!" Nachi ordered. "Ushio, find that sub! Help Furutaka when you're done!"

" _Hai!_ "

"Ashigara, on me!"

The two heavy cruisers trained their armaments up and filled the sky with flak.

"Pilot!" Houshou shouted. "I need to recover my aircraft! Set me down on the ocean! After that, head back to the _Kaga_!"

The pilot confirmed and was starting the descent when the helicopter got riddle with holes from a passing enemy fighter. The helicopter lurched and belched black smoke. The pilot informed the _Bonhomme Richard_ that they were going to land immediately no matter what the Americans' response was. Another pass was made by the enemy aircraft, this time taking out the tail rotor and setting the engine on fire. Houshou held on as tightly as she could. The Sea Dragon spun out of control and crashed onto the bow of the flight deck of the assault ship. The countermeasure system was activated and the deck's sprinklers went to work to put out the flames.

Houshou stumbled out of the wreck, only slightly flinching when she was sprayed with water. She only suffered minor singes to her outfit and skin. The pilots were not as lucky, but she did not have time to grieve.

" _Ki_ sprinkler _o shadan!_ " Houshou demanded at the closest American, a blonde woman in NWUs with the name 'Helfman' on her chest. " _Watashi wa-_ "

Houshou got a message from one of her fighters. She looked behind her and saw two enemy aircraft coming in. Shouting, she told everyone that could hear her to find cover. She ran towards Helfman who was standing still with confusion clouding her eyes. Helfman was snapped out of it when the embodiment of a light aircraft carrier ran into her. Both women fell to the deck with Houshou on top.

The enemy aircraft strafed the deck cutting down anyone that was exposed. Houshou cried out as bullets struck her body, holes punched into the back of her clothing. Her fighter that was in pursuit of the two enemy aircraft had shot one down. The triangular alien aircraft crashed onto the middle of the flight deck. It wasn't completely destroyed and it continued to fire its machine gun, the recoil slowly spinning the creature around. Personnel were getting caught in the legs and some managed to jump the stream of bullets.

Houshou quickly lifted herself off of Helfman and stood on her knees. She drew her bow and aimed at black form.

" _Yari!_ " Houshou shouted and released. The arrow flew down the flight deck and – without transforming into a plane – impaled itself into the enemy aircraft, killing it.

"Are you okay?" she asked Helfman.

" _Watashi daijoubu_ …" the American answered in little less than passable Japanese.

Houshou rushed to the impaled aircraft and pulled the arrow out. She nocked the arrow and launched it into the air, transforming into an A5M. Just as quickly as it transformed, it was shot out of the air. About to launch another, she froze when she looked at the battle raging in front of her.

Nachi and Ashigara pummeled any Shinkaisei-kan destroyer and cruiser that poked up from beneath the waves and swatted any aircraft out of the sky when they had the chance. Ushio was still hunting the submarine, dropping depth charges left and right. Furutaka was fishing American sailors out of the water as she was ordered to. The number of enemies were endless.

"Admiral, we are going to need support!" Houshou declared over the radio. "We got an endless number of destroyers and cruisers and at least two battleships and a carrier that we haven't been able to touch yet."

"Okay, Houshou," the admiral said. "Redirecting Aoba and Kinugasa to you. Mutsu, you go too! Ooyodo, which of the Kongous are able to fight?"

That was the last she heard from the admiral as she launched a squadron of fighters.

"Are you okay? Do you need help?" Myoukou shouted, panic clear in her voice.

"Don't think you can go anywhere!" Tenryuu bellowed as her guns sounded off. "We need you here!"

Houshou nocked three A5M arrows and released them.

-o-

Furutaka was ferrying sailors from the stricken destroyer to the well deck of the _Bonhomme Richard_ by carrying them individually or towing life rafts. Many of them were slick with oil and the heavy cruiser grimaced as her skin and uniform became increasingly grimy. The guided missile destroyer was steadily capsizing and Furutaka was heading back to get more survivors when an explosion ripped open the destroyer before it could fully capsize. The ship split into two and Furutaka shielded herself as best as she could. Heat and shrapnel battered the heavy cruiser. After the firestorm calmed down, she looked between her arms and was greeted with an oil fire engulfing the rest of the survivors and the ship.

However, in between the two halves of the ship, there was a figure standing there. It had a small humanoid stature and pale skin. It wore a black hoodie with a muffler that was unzipped down to the navel which exposed an equally black bra with an O-ring connecting the two cups together. She was staring at Furutaka through the fire with a pair of glowing purple eyes and a large, toothy maniacal grin on her face.

None of that surprised Furutaka. What did was the large eel like tail that emerged from the water. It was easily twice as long as Furutaka is tall, maybe even more, and a menacing knife head –complete with a jaw and teeth – adorned the end of the tail. Two twin gun turrets were attached to the side of the head and one triple gun turret sat on the top.

Furutaka raised her right arm to fire the two turrets. The Shinkaisei-kan leapt out of the flames straight for the heavy cruiser. She grabbed and shoved Furutaka's guns to the side just as the heavy cruiser fired them, causing a big splash right next to them. Furutaka rotated her turrets and fired again. Her 120-millimeter that was mounted forward of the bridge on her shoulder rapid fired into the Shinkaisei-kan. The Shinkaisei-kan dug her fingers into Furutaka's mechanized arm.

Metal creaked and groaned. Part of the arm teared and oil sputtered from the hydraulics, adding to the black stains on Furutaka's clothes. The turrets contorted with the increased damage her equipment sustained and they just withered and died. Sparks popped as her ammunition storage ruptured and shells fell into the sea.

Furutaka was shocked at the immense strength this…'thing' had. With her left arm, she continuously threw punches into the stomach area. Her back met the water when her enemy shoved her arm down. The eel like tail came around and chomped on Furutaka's shoulder.

"Aaahhh!" the heavy cruiser cried out as she felt her shoulder slowly getting crushed.

She could feel the weapons on her arm being pulled away from her shoulder, metal snapping accompanying it. Finally, the entire chunk broke away. The monstrous jaw released as well, pulling Furutaka's bridge with it. It spat the metal out and the Shinkaisei-kan dropped the guns.

Furutaka scrambled back up. She still had one turret, two torpedoes in the tubes, and a strip of metal attached to her shoulder. She unhooked the chain that attached the metal on her should and held it in her hand.

The Shinkaisei-kan kept her maniacal smile as the two had a stare down.

Furutaka moved first, firing her turret and launching a torpedo.

The massive tail blocked the shots, but in turn blocked the sight of the heavy cruiser's torpedo. A geyser of water erupted from beneath the Shinkaisei-kan and made it stumble backwards. Furutaka jumped through the wall of water, swinging the chain like a flail. The piece of metal on the end of the chain sliced the abdomen of the enemy. Furutaka fired again, landing both shots on her opponent's face and followed up with a swing that impaled the tail. The tail shrieked, much to Furutaka's surprise. She yanked the back on the chain and swung it down from above her head, stabbing the Shinkaisei-kan right in the chest.

About the go for another attack, she was not ready for the enemy to pull on the chain. Furutaka was forcefully pulled forward. Before she stopped, she was punched in the face and was sent flying backwards, landing with a splash. She accidently released a torpedo which was launched into the air as flew. The Shinkaisei-kan caught the torpedo and threw it at the heavy cruiser, resulting in a fireball.

Once the water and smoke settled, Furutaka was scrambling backwards as she fired at the tail. It growled in annoyance and bit off Furutaka's third turret before shooting all seven barrels at the cruiser.

Furutaka bled in many places and spat out a mouthful of blood. A growl of her own came from her throat as she grimaced at her impending doom. Luckily, a nearby Ushio fired at the Shinkaisei-kan. Taking advantage of the distraction, Furutaka stood up and snapped her heavily damaged aircraft catapult from her leg. She broke in half, making two very nice sharp points.

"Hey, you!" she shouted.

The Shinkaisei-kan turned around only to find Furutaka plunging her catapult into its chest. The grin disappeared from the Shinkaisei-kan's face and her purple eyes widened in fear. The heavy cruiser strained as she pushed the pieces in deeper.

"Hm," Furutaka taunted with the look of victory creeping onto her face only for it to turn into confusion.

The Shinkaisei-kan's face returned to her toothy grin.

"Nice try," she said…in _English_!

Furutaka gaped in shock and did not see Ushio jumping at them with a torpedo like a knife in a reverse grip.

The Shinkaisei-kan leaned back, causing Ushio's arm to land between her and Furutaka. The Shinkaisie-kan struck Ushio's torpedo with a knifehand strike, breaking it in half. Torpedo fuel sprayed everywhere. Some got into Furutaka's left eye and she stumbled back in pain.

Ushio tried to strike again but was caught in the jaws of tail. Ushio flailed in panic and hit the knife head in an effort to free herself as she was lifted into the air.

Furutaka, who had recovered from most of the pain, opened her right eye to a horrific sight.

The jaw held onto Ushio, covering from just beneath her breasts to her waist. The Kanmusu was bleeding profusely as the jaws slowly crushed her body and blood started to come out from her mouth. Each strike of her fist grew weaker, but she was still very much conscious.

Just what the Shinkaisei-kan wanted.

There was a sickening ' _Crunch!'_

Furutaka watched in petrifying, muted horror as she witnessed Ushio's lifeless body fall from the jaws and onto the ocean surface, a large chunk of her torso missing exposing bones, muscles, and organs. Her eyes were still open, but glazed, freezing the last moment of terror she had experienced.

The monstrous jaw crunched and crunched and crunched. Opening its mouth, it let a bloody mess of meat and bone fall out and into the ocean.

"Re he, he," the Shinkaisei-kan began softly. "Re he, he, he, he, he. Rah ha, ha, ha, ha!"

Furutaka's blood froze at the bloodcurdling cackle of her enemy. Seemingly knowing what was going through Furutaka's mind, the Shinkaisei-kan spoke to the heavy cruiser.

"Let's melt that blood, shall we?" she said with a smile.

Her tail grabbed Furutaka's leg and tossed her into the oil fire of the sunken American destroyer.

The heavy cruiser shrieked in pain and dragged herself out of the fire. She rolled around in the waves in a vain effort to put the fires out.

Another bout of laughing was about to come from the Shinkaisei-kan, but a volley of shells from two approaching Kanmusu caused her to dive beneath the waves and escape.

"Did you see that thing?!" Kinugasa asked her sister ship in bewilderment.

"Yeah, I got it," Aoba said, releasing her digital camera and letting it hang on her neck.

"What do you suppose that _thing_ is?"

"I don't care. Let's just get these two to that _Wasp_ ship."

Aoba picked up Ushio before she could sink beneath the waves. She carried the destroyer in a princess carry and did her best to not look at the single muscle that held Ushio together. Kinugasa carried the unconscious Furutaka who was still smoldering, burns marring her body.

* * *

Ashigara was beating a Ri-class heavy cruiser with a Ha-class destroyer. Bit by bit, the destroyer disintegrated. With a final punch, Ashigara fired her turret as her fist impacted the unfortunate Shinkaisei-kan.

"Ashigara! The American command ship is under fire!" Nachi shouted as she skied past her.

Ashigara stood up and executed a Chi-class torpedo cruiser before following her ship sister.

Before they reached the _Blue Ridge_ , they witness the command ship's bridge explode into a fireball. They stopped dead in their tracks as they saw a figure in black slowly turn around and face them.

It was a Ru-class battleship, but this one looked different. She had the long black hair, pale skin, and tight fitting black tank top and pants, sure, but what really got their attention was how her armaments were arranged. She did not carry the two boxes full of guns that the many other Ru-classes did. She carried a total of five double gun turrets. Two were on her shoulders, another two on her hips, and one facing down, flat against her back.

Her eyes glowed a deep, fiery red and they just begged for a fight.

Ashigara and Nachi fired a salvo and split up, moving to the flanks of the Ru-class. Some of the shells found their mark, but the battleship just shrugged them off. She angled and fired her guns at the heavy cruisers and saw Ashigara launch a salvo of three torpedoes. The Ru-class stopped and turned to avoid the torpedoes, then fired another salvo at her. The shots straddled Ashigara and she charged straight towards the battleship. Seeing that her torpedoes would miss, Ashigara fired a shot and detonated the torpedoes.

The explosion caused the Ru-class to stumble. Nachi charged from behind and executed a flying punch to the Ru-class's head. Dazed, she couldn't counter attack when Nachi landed a few kicks then spread her equipment out so she could fire all five of her turrets. She unloaded into the battleship's back, causing her to stagger forward. The rear turret was loose and Nachi shot it two more times so she could tear it off. Before she could, the Ru-class spun around and grabbed Nachi's arm. She spun the heavy cruiser around and threw her at an oncoming Ashigara.

Both cruisers were thrown back several feet and quickly got back up, guns blazing.

Ashigara was the first to reach the Ru-class. She threw a punch and kick but both attacks were blocked. She narrowly missed a return fist to the face but the force of the one she took to the stomach sent her tumbling back. Nachi managed to kick the Ru-class in the head and shot a salvo into her. Nachi grabbed the turret from the Ru-class's back and used it as a club, smashing it into the battleship's back. The Ru-class did a reverse kick and then a punch right to Nachi's face before firing the gun on her left shoulder at her.

Ashigara came running back up. Her turrets unleased fire onto the Ru-class. Ashigara reached and grabbed one of her torpedoes from the launcher and attempted to get an explosive hit with it. Before she could, she was knocked back by another powerful blow from the battleship's fist which was followed by a salvo from two of the Ru-class's turrets. She had let go of her torpedo and it flipped in the air. The battleship caught it and threw it at Nachi who was thrown back by the explosion.

The Ru-class followed up with a salvo from all four of her guns. Most of the shots missed, but one of them caught Nachi's left leg, causing her to fall onto one knee. Another shredded her right shoulder and one blew a hole in her body.

Nachi's eyes widened as her pain and condition slowly registered in her brain. She fell backwards onto the water, her lifeline staining the ocean red.

"Nachi!" Ashigara screamed.

She barged past the Ru-class and rushed to the side of her ship sister.

"Oh my gosh!" she said in panic. "Nachi! Nachi!"

The Ru-class slowly walked towards them and watched the Kanmusus leave as Ashigara picked Nachi up and sprinted for the _Bonhomme Richard_.

Tears blinded Ashigara as she rushed into the well deck. She didn't stop until she tripped on the ramp, dropping herself and Nachi.

"Nachi! Nachi!" she shouted, grabbing her hand.

Nachi was still awake, but clearly in pain. Her eyes were barely open as her body jerked with each bloody breath she tried to take.

" _I-kan! I-kan!_ " Ashigara screamed for a medic in Japanese at anyone in earshot. It didn't occur to her to say it in English, but nothing was clear in her panic driven mind. Her message must've gotten through as she heard Aoba shout something in English and a Navy Corpsman was soon by her side.

Blood trickled from Nachi's mouth as she continued jerking. He didn't do much of an inspection as the hole in Nachi's chest was enough evidence for him that she was already gone.

He shook his head at Ashigara, sorrow and regret on his face.

" _Masaka!_ " Ashigara said in disbelief. " _Masaka! Masaka, masaka, masaka! Onegaishimasu!_ "

The corpsman shook his head once more.

"No!" Ashigara wailed. "Nachi, stay here! Please! Nachi, please! Please, Yoshika!"

Nachi's only response was a silent jerk before becoming motionless. Houshou arrived at the well deck just in time to witness agonizing cries erupt from Ashigara's throat.

"Yoshika! Yoshika! Aaaaaah!"

"What?! What's happened?!" Myoukou demanded over the radio.

"We…just lost Nachi," Houshou said hesitantly.

"What?! Nachi?!" Myoukou shouted as she started to sprint towards the American ships.

She did not get far when a Ro-class destroyer jumped out of the water and latched itself on Myoukou's neck. The attack dragged her down onto the water's surface. She was about to pry it off, but she heard something as it bit down harder.

 _You caused me so much pain._

Tatsuta impaled the destroyer and pulled it off of Myoukou. The heavy cruiser coughed, her eyes wide at what she just heard.

-o-

Far off in the distance, a Wo-class stood on the ocean, her red eyes full of sorrow as she witnessed Ashigara's pain.

A single tear rolled down her cheek as she ordered all her forces to stop what they were doing and pull back.

* * *

Mutsu had arrived with Kongou-class battleships Hiei and Haruna well after the Shinkaisei-kan retreated. Aoba was taking pictures of the aftermath when the battleships had arrived and Houshou gave a brief rundown of what had happened. None of the conventional ships had been able to escape undamaged, but most of it was sustained by the Americans. At the very least, they were able to make it back to Yokosuka under their own power, except for the _Ticonderoga_ , USS _Shiloh_ , which still had a heavy list and had lost two of its four turbine engines. The surviving _Arleigh Burke_ , USS _McCampbell_ helped towed the guided missile cruiser. With the Kanmusu on high alert, the battle worn force limped back to Yokosuka, leaving the debris of USS _Mustin_ behind.

It was now Christmas Eve and Ashigara limped down the hall towards the admiral's office. She had spent the last few weeks recuperating from her wounds. Besides a strained muscle in her leg and a wrist brace on her right arm, she had mostly recovered from any injuries that would impair movement. She would not be able to sortie until the New Year at the earliest.

She may have been fully recovered by now, but crying kept her up at night and the undue stress that she put herself through to try and forget about the battle did not help. And it shows. Bags could be seen under her eyes and she did not even bother with makeup to hide it. At least they were slowly fading as Myoukou had finally convinced Ashigara to take sleeping pills to help her sleep.

Ashigara was in way better shape than Furutaka at least. The younger heavy cruiser was still in a near comatose state. She would occasionally wake up, but only for minutes at a time for food or the restroom. Her ship sister, Kako, spends most of her free time with her and would help give Furutaka a bath. Most of her burn scars have gone and faded, but the one on the left side of her face was still prominent and she would not be able to see out of her left eye ever again. And when she sleeps, she would softly squeak in fear.

"Re. Re," she would say.

Ashigara knocked on the door to announce her arrival and entered.

Inside the admiral's office, Keisuke, Ooyodo, Mutsu, and Nagato were already there. They were all standing except for Nagato who was in a wheelchair. Ashigara saluted when the door closed behind her.

"I know it has been tough for you, but I'll need you to fill in Nachi's shoes," he said.

Ooyodo held out a pile of neatly folded clothes that contained the articles that Myoukou and Nachi wore. Ahigara softly took it into her hands.

"Thank…you."

"You may use my room to try them on if you want," he said, gesturing to the door in the left wall. "And let us know if they need to be adjusted."

Ashigara nodded and went through the door, closing it behind her.

The Admiral sighed and sat back down.

"What about this thing in America again?" he asked.

"So on December 7th, Pearl Harbor was attacked (again)," Ooyodo began. "This time by Shinkaisei-kan. After losing contact-"

"I know about that. I mean their 'odd woman' they found."

"On December 11th when they navy reached Oahu, they found a woman with fittings of a warship. They exchanged fire and succeeded in incapacitating the woman. They transported her back to San Diego for interrogation. San Diego was attacked by Shinkaisei-kan on the 17th which validated the woman's story. They have no idea what to do, including said woman, so they are asking us for assistance."

"Any more information than that?"

"No, sir. That's what they sent us."

Keisuke just sighed and buried his face in his hands.

"What are you thinking, sir?" Mutsu asked.

"How to approach this," he answered. "I planned that if Kanmusus from other countries popped up and asked for assistance, I'd assume that they would need help and I would send one of our Kanmusus to teach them."

"But who have we got to spare?" Mutsu asked. "We were short staffed as it is and with Nachi and Ushio gone, and Furutaka hospitalized, we can't thin ourselves out by sending heavy hitters."

"We could send a destroyer, but the Americans are quite sensitive on the subject of child soldiers," Ooyodo informed.

"I was planning on sending Nachi if this arose. She would've been a perfect candidate," the Admiral said. "Strong and determined, even if a little rash, and would not back down even if she was threatened by an American battleship."

"Well, she's gone, so what do you plan to do?" Nagato inquired.

"I plan on sending Nachi's equipment along with her sister."

"Sir! You heard Mutsu say it herself! We can't send our heavy hitters! We need to put our country first!" Nagato exclaimed.

"I want you to tap into the _human_ side of you when I say 'sister'," he said.

The main office door opened and in walked a woman who filled out a JMSDF officer's dress uniform nicely. She had black hair that reached her shoulder blades and sharp brown eyes.

"Lieutenant Commander Suzuri Hattori, Admiral," she said with a sharp salute.

"Suzuri Hattori…" Nagato said to herself. "Wait-!"

"Isn't she…?!" Mutsu butted in.

"Yes, she was on the _Myoukou_ when they first attacked," Keisuke confirmed. "And is also Nachi's biological sister."

Suzuri ignored the Kanmusus.

"I received the files and photos from Aoba," Suzuri said. "Are you sure you want the Americans to know all that?"

"Yes. Everything but superstitions and rumors. If it is a fact, then use it."

He looked at all the women in the room.

"Here is what I planned. Lieutenant Commander Hattori would be taking off from Chitose Air Base along with Nachi's equipment and a squad of the 1st Airborne Brigade as her personnel escort. In flight, four F-15s will escort you to Eilson Air Force Base in Alaska, then to San Diego. Can't have a straight shot over the Pacific in the risk of getting shot down. Any questions?"

"No questions. But-" Suzuri was cut off when Ashigara came out of the Admiral's room with her new uniform on, the neck tab and right handed glove in her hand.

The heavy cruiser froze when she saw Suzuri who stared right back at her. Suzuri looked back at the Admiral and continued.

"Since we believe the Shinkaisei-kan carriers are not night operable, I'll be heading up to Chitose tonight and leaving at dusk tomorrow."

There was a moment of silence.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go pack."

And with that, Suzuri turned around and left with a soft close of the door.

"Does it fit okay?" Keisuke asked Ashigara.

"Uh, the neck tab is a little tight," answered the heavy cruiser.

"I'll have some made that will fit you."

"Thank you, sir."

* * *

It was already dark, but the Yokosuka was very well lit.

Jintsuu did a curtsey bow before leaving the stage. There was a solid applause as many of the spectators did not know that the usually shy embodiment of the light cruiser had such a strong voice.

The temporary stage was at the bottom of a shallow dip in the ground and many Kanmusu dotted the grassy slopes. As it was the day before Christmas, the Kanmusu who were of higher rank on the base did not think it would hurt to let their charges enjoy themselves as many of them were young and should not be in a military setting under normal circumstances. Although, many of them still take it easy on regular days anyway.

"How about another round of applause for, Jintsuu!" Naka shouted into the microphone as she walked onto stage. Another wave of applause rang through the crowd.

"Up next we got Kongou-class battleship Haruna with a piece based on her past memories."

Haruna calmly walked onto the stage. Naka handed her the microphone and bounded off the stage.

The music began with a soft chime. After a brief second, Haruna breathed in and started singing.

 _All these memories of Haruharu are  
Rising up from within the heart  
Haruharu remembers the kindness  
That those two arms had to give~_

The sound of an oriental flute and a soft beat came out as Haruna fell silent. She lightly bobbed her head until the next verse.

 _From far away, Haruna arrived at Yokosuka  
From far away, she has arrived on the 19_ _th_ _of April  
Petals of sakura flutter about  
And behind you shines the sunlight of spring_

While the performance was going on, Ashigara was in the dorm room that she had shared with Nachi. She was practically ransacking the closet as she looked through Nachi's belongings as well as her own.

"It's a damn sword! How hard is it to find?" she said in frustration.

She switched her focus to the top shelf of the closet that had sheets and futons. Carelessly pulling at them, she dragged all of them down from the shelf. Peeking at the shelf, there, at the very back was a katana in its sheath. Ashigara reached for it and pulled it off the shelf before bolting out the door.

She ran as fast as her legs would allow, down the paths and across the courtyard in the front of the main building. She barged past Akagi and Kaga. Kaga said something about discipline and manners but Ashigara didn't pay attention. The next Kanmusu she passed was Tatsuta with a small green box in her hand.

"Um, Ashigara-san…" the light cruiser tried to catch the speeding heavy cruiser's attention. When it was obvious that she lost her, Tatsuta shrugged and continued walking in the other direction.

Ashigara raced to the edge of the Kanmusu part of the base. Suzuri was about to get into a black sedan with government license plates.

"Wait!" Ashigara shouted.

Suzuri looked back.

"Wait a moment, driver," she said.

Ashigara slowed to a stop, breathing heavily as she tried to calm herself.

"So you are really going?" she finally asked.

"I have to. I was assigned."

"You can always say 'no'."

"Well, it's better than stirring up a political shitstorm by sending a destroyer over or leaving Japan vulnerable by sending a heavy cruiser or battleship."

"As if a shitstorm is impossible by sending you," Ashigara said under her breath.

"What was that?" Suzuri asked, her voice slightly hardened.

"Nothing. But…Nachi…" Ashigara said looking down at the sword before holding it up by the sheath. "This was hers. I know you do not prize it and it probably means more to me or Myoukou, but take this. It is all you got left of her besides those guns."

Suzuri stared at the katana, almost unsure of what to do. Ashigara lightly shook the sword in emphasis. Still no reaction from the Lieutenant Commander.

"Take it," Ashigara said as she softly pushed it against Suzuri's chest.

"Okay," said Suzuri, finally budging. She opened her palms and took it from Ashigara's hand.

An awkward silence ensued until Suzuri broke it.

"I have to go."

She got into the car and closed the door as the engine started up. Ashigara knocked on the window. Suzuri rolled it down.

"One last thing. Do not lose yourself over there," said the heavy cruiser in an almost commanding tone.

"I won't."

Ashigara backed away and watched as the car drove away. She could see the silhouette of Suzuri look back at her. After the car went out of sight, Ashigara saluted the guards and went back inside the gate. The guards saluted back and closed the gate behind her.

She enjoyed her peaceful walk back and was passing by the makeshift amphitheater.

On the stage, there were the Sendai light cruiser sisters – Sendai, Jintsuu, and Naka – were on stage. Sendai was sitting at a drum set which was a little behind her sisters. Jintsuu carried an electric guitar that was predominantly orange that faded to white as it approached the neck and she stood to the left of Sendai. Naka stood on the other side and carried an all-white electric guitar.

Jintsuu adjusted the microphone in front of her.

"I would like to thank all of you who could come tonight," Jintsuu began. "It's crazy, isn't it? We've nearly been together for a year."

There were some cheers of acknowledgment from the crowd.

"Before we end for tonight, we got some new faces in the crowd which you may or may not have met. Come on girls, stand up."

From the spot where Akatsuki and her sister ships were sitting, one of the girls stood. She was small, most likely in her preteens, and had innocent brown eyes and long brown hair that was in a folded ponytail.

The other had to be coaxed by Yuudachi to stand. She had very dark brown hair that was braided into a ponytail that draped over her shoulder and blue eyes. She looked to be about mid to late teens.

"Ladies, please welcome Miyu Fujimori; Akatsuki-class destroyer, Inazuma. And Akane Ishimura; Shiratsuyu-class destroyer, Shigure!"

There was a loud applause and shouts welcoming the newcomers.

"Welcome to the family," Jintsuu said with a smile. She spoke again when the noise died down.

"I know that this sudden change can be foreboding, but we are all here for you. We are here to help. And probably the most important thing is to not give up. And this is what the last song is about. Hopefully my voice holds out," Jintsuu smiled and lightly cleared her throat.

A brief moment of laughter came from the audience.

Jintsuu started off with a strum of her guitar and Sendai and Naka joined in. The sounds of the guitars and drums went on for a bit and Jintsuu took in a breath.

 _I messed up tonight  
I lost another fight  
I still messed up but I'll just start again_

 _I keep falling down  
I keep on hitting the ground  
I always get up now to see what's next_

 _Birds don't just fly  
They fall down then get up  
Nobody learns without getting it wrong_

 _No, I won't give up  
No, I won't give in  
'Til I reach the end  
Then I'll start again_

 _No, I won't leave  
I want to try everything_

 _I want to try everything  
Even though I know I could fail_

Ashigara stopped and leaned against a light pole to listen to the concert, a smile on her face. It was nice to find something so joyful in the middle of wartime. Especially a war that threatens to end the human race altogether. By their actions, the other Kanmusu seemed to enjoy the song as well as many of them stood up to dance. Some of them, like Shigure, didn't want to, but she was pulled to her feet by Yuudachi.

 _Look how far you've come  
You filled your heart with love  
Baby you've done enough  
Now catch your breath_

 _Don't beat yourself up  
No need to run so fast  
Sometimes we come last  
But we did our best_

The chorus came again and some of the audience joined. Ashigara even caught herself silently mouthing the lyrics.

 _I'll keep on making those new mistakes  
I'll keep on making them every day  
Those new mistakes_

As the song started to wind down, so did the dancing of the crowd.

 _Try everything~_

The crowd erupted into a roar of cheers and whistles as the Jintsuu finished the last line and gave a thunderous applause. Ashigara gave her appreciative clap as well before heading back to her room. She did have a mess to clean up after all.

When she entered her room and turned on the light, she noticed a small green box sitting on her bed. Stepping her way through the mess, she picked it up. On the top was a sticker that said "To: Junko Mizushima" but it did not say who it was from.

Ashigara tilted her head questioningly.

 _Why is there a gift addressed to me using_ my actual name _? Sure, I guess it means I got a secret admirer or something, but it would must be from someone off this base since the only ones here that know my name is the admiral, the Nagatos, and maybe Ooyodo. But they would put 'Ashigara' if that was the case. This must be from someone that knew me in my personal life. Someone who knows me before my life as a Kanmusu. But who?_

Ashigara searched through her memories.

 _It can't be him. I do like him for the fact he works hard and always has successful ideas. That is why I put him in charge of my company while I'm here. That's it. I made it clear that he was my subordinate and nothing else._

"Er…" Ashigara droned lightly.

She opened the box and was met with a Christmas cake.

Ashigara let out an infuriated sigh.

Now, she had no problem with Christmas or cake. In fact, she likes Christmas and cake. But putting them together…

Ashigara crumpled the box, contents and all, and dumped it in the waste bin, making the plastic ' _Swish!_ ' as she did so.

"Such a terrible fucking present," she said as she violently folded the sheets and threw them back into the closet.

* * *

 **A/N: As you may have noticed, I have put my own spin on things such as Tenryuu having both of her eyes, Tatsuta having a longer version of her dress, Furutaka getting her burns, and the all three Sendai sisters acting the part of an idol (although most of it goes to Naka, but she's not fanatic about it). The same can be said for many of the official characters. And I think this chapter sets the tone.**

 **Haruna's song is 'Memories of Haruharu' and I changed some of the lyrics so it would flow smoother in English.**

 **Of course, the second song is 'Try Everything' with some lyrics changed. I got the inspiration from Nathan Sharp's (aka NateWantsToBattle) rock cover of the song. I'm aware this song is a bit anachronistic as this story (at this point in time) is in 2015 while Zootopia doesn't come out until February 2016 at the earliest. And yes, I do love that movie.  
**

 **I'll talk more about it in the next chapter's A/N which should be soon and I'll probably be back to my more usual chatty self by then.**

 **Please review and/or comment, take care folks, and I hope to catch you in the next chapter.**

 **PS: Americans, it's election day. Oh, god...**


	4. En Route

**A/N: Sorry for the short chapter. It's more of an A/N update than chapter and classes are really taxing right now.  
**

* * *

-4-

En Route

The fourth and last F-15J of the 203rd Tactical Fighter Squadron detached from the hose of the aerial refueling tanker and pulled into formation with the other three fighters and the Kawasaki C-1 transport. Inside the transport sat ten soldiers of the 1st Airborne Brigade and Suzuri. A large wooden crate along with several smaller boxes of various sizes sat securely at the front of the cargo hold. There was also a small pet carrier with nothing in it except a folded pink towel.

Suzuri was on her laptop going through the PowerPoint that Aoba had assembled. It was a well thought out presentation and almost professional if there were not for the bits of clipart and anime pictures that showed up occasionally. Suzuri went ahead and deleted the unnecessary pictures. She couldn't blame Aoba though. The girl the heavy cruiser had chosen could not be any more than eighteen years old. The Lieutenant Commander continued to edit the slides. Her finger froze when she came across a certain section with a very eye-catching title.

 _"The American Shinkaisei-kan"_

Suzuri ran her hand down her face with a deep sigh.

It seems that suspicion was still going around. There was no doubt that some of…no… _most_ of the returned spirits would accuse the Americans.

Aoba herself shouldn't have any grudges to hold. She made through the entire war and had the peaceful honor of being scrapped instead of scuttled or blown to bits as a target ship. Although, she did witness her comrades get picked off one by one before she became a hulk sitting on the floor of Kure Harbor.

Maybe she does have a reason to be upset.

As for many others, grievances run deep. _Especially_ if the American Kanmusu Suzuri has yet to meet is a certain aircraft carrier.

Suzuri removed any slide related to connection the Americans and Shinkaisei-kan. Even if the evidence Aoba had shown was damning, accusing the Americans would not help persuade them to convince them to join the fight.

She continued go through and edit the slides when an alarm sounded. One of the pilots shouted in panic.

"I'm spiked!"

* * *

Forty thousand feet below on the Kamchatka Peninsula, sirens were blaring. Personnel ran to their stations and prepared themselves for an Abyssal assault. Weapons systems were being woken up and pointed towards the sky. Among the sea of Russian Army camouflage, there was one wearing Russian Navy BDUs. A woman, who was off to the side, was shaking like a leaf.

 _What have I done?! What should I do?! What should I do?! Innocents are going to die because I am too clumsy!_

Her heart buzzed as she began a cold sweat. She relaxed a little when someone spoke up.

"These radar contacts are too big to be Abyssal aircraft. Should we-" the radar operator was soon interrupted by a powerful voice.

"Everyone, wait!"

All heads turned to see two women standing in the room with the door open behind them. Both women wore heavily inspired and modified Imperial Russian Navy uniforms.

The one that had shouted the order had dark hair tied in a bun. She wore a blue, high collared, double breasted jacket with long coattails, white trimming, and gold buttons. The color of the fabric between the two columns of buttons was white. She wore blue pants and black boots. Around her waist was a brown leather holster with a MP-443 Grach in it.

The second woman had light blonde hair, also tied into a bun. She wore the same style of uniform except hers was predominantly white with blue trimming. The gold buttons, black boots, and leather holster remained the same.

The two women were _Pallada_ -class protected cruisers, Pallada and Diana respectively. While _Diana_ had chosen a woman of pure Russian blood, _Pallada_ possessed one with a trace of Japanese in her veins.

"Everyone, stop what you're doing!" Pallada commanded. "Those are Jap Defense Force planes you are targeting."

She looked around the room and saw the quivering woman. She let out a soundless sigh.

"Disengage the SAMs and get me in contact with those planes." She turned her head and spoke to her sister ship. "Diana, see to Kamchatka."

Diana approached the reincarnation of the repair ship _Kamchatka_. Yes, the one that sailed with _Aurora_ on the ill-fated voyage that would end at Tsushima.

At this time, Kamchatka was huddled on the floor with her hands on her head, still shivering with fear.

"Come on," Diana said kindly, gently pulling the repair ship to her feet and slowly led her out the door. "Pallada will take your shift. Right now, let's get you to bed."

"I'm sorry," Kamchatka softly wailed with tears. "If I wasn't so clumsy… If I only spoke…"

"Don't worry, don't worry," Diana soothed. "We can work on your communication when you wake up."

This time Pallada let out a huge sigh of relief. It could've been worse. If the battleship Oryol was here, she would have 'accidentally' launched the missiles somehow.

"How did you know that the planes were human?" the radar operator asked. "I thought you didn't have radar."

"Lützow woke us up and told us about Japanese aircraft overhead," Pallada replied. "All the while, she was asleep."

"Lützow?" he asked.

Historically, _Lützow_ was the last of the _Admiral Hipper_ -class German heavy cruisers. She was sold to the Soviet Navy in 1940 and was never a complete cruiser. She acted as a floating battery for most of the Second World War before being turned into a barrack ship. When Lützow's spirit returned, she selected a woman who was a German orphan. Luckily, her reincarnation came back with full combat gear and equipment. Her time as a barrack did sneak in some surprising side effects, however.

"Petropavlovsk," Pallada clarified.

"And she was…sleepwalking?"

"You'd be surprised at what she can do while asleep. Once she went for a walk, brewed some coffee, and woke up when she was in the shower."

The radio operator successfully reached the Japanese aircraft and handed a headset to Pallada. She spoke fluent Japanese into the microphone.

"JASDF aircraft, sorry for the scare. We had some communication problems down here."

"Thank you for clearing that up," answered the pilot on the other end.

"Now, where is it you're going?" Pallada asked.

"Eilson Air Force Base, Alaska."

"We have a flight of MiG-29s up. They will escort you to the border."

The pilot confirmed. Pallada took of the headset and settled in for the rest of Kamchatka's shift.

* * *

 **A/N: A labor of love is what this is. I really want to see this story to the end and I have planned out most of it. I got the beginning, middle, and the end. It's just a matter of making the roads to get there. If everything goes to plan, the next chapter will be Suzuri's presentation to the Americans. Of course, that's if I don't sneak in another mini chapter.**

 **As some have already caught on when it comes to the names, I use italics when referring to the actual ship while using unedited font when referring to the Ship Girl. Also, I use a translator for when the characters speak a foreign language. Out of the languages I know, (besides English) German is my best and that is still a low bar.** **I'm not an expert at languages and don't claim to be.**

 **Now onto what I want to talk about.**

 **First off, as demonstrated in this chapter, all of my personifications will be female. I am aware that some cultures refer to ships as male, but I've been referring to them as female ever since I learned about the _Titanic._ It's a bit of personal preference.**

 **As I stated in the last chapter, I am taking a different approach to the official characters. When I first got into Kancolle, I was wondering why and didn't like how some of the characters dressed and acted the way they do. Now, I won't change every character as I do not have the time or energy to do so and some of their looks and personalities grew on me.**

 **However, at the moment I will change these two.**

 **First off are the Germans, specifically Bismarck. I never really liked her outfit. To me, it is way too skimpy. Maybe it is because she doesn't wear anything but panties below the waist. I don't like that. And this is coming from someone who absolutely loves the Strike Witches franchise. I just don't like that type of fanservice. So when Bismarck gets introduced, she will be wearing something different. Same goes for Lebe, Max, and Eugen. I really like Graf Zeppelin's outfit though. Oh, and another thing. At times I may use the feminine version of some of the German words for some of these Ship Girls as they are female. Example: "Prinzessin Eugen" and "Gräfin Zeppelin".  
**

 **The other is Iowa. Oh, Iowa. I don't even know where to begin. Her clothes, her personality, her figure, those freaking star eyes…she is a stereotype and a damn trollop. That is how I see her.**

 **Iowa was one of my first OCs I've ever created for Kancolle and I will be using my image instead of the official representation. Unlike Bismarck who would only have a change of clothes and maybe personality, when Iowa is inevitably introduced in this story, everything about her will be changed just short of changing her gender.  
**

 **Also, I will not, ABSOLUTELY NOT, include ships that never, AT THE VERY LEAST, had their hull laid down. So those H-classes, super Yamato-class, Montana-class, basically everything in the World of Warships Russian tree...Nope. Sorry. They do not have a home here.**

 **Amagi, Tosa, Kentucky, Illinois, I-404, I-405, Ibuki, and other vessels like them have a much higher chance of making it into the story than those paper ships.**

 **Anyway, sorry for the short chapter, but the next one should be longer. See you guys and gals there. Until then, take care.**


	5. Strategic, PR, or Propaganda?

**A/N: Writer's block is the bane of my existence right next to summer break procrastination. Here's another short chapter. This was unplanned and written on a whim.**

* * *

-5-

Strategic, PR, or Propaganda?

 _"We are right over the battle right now! This is happening only five kilometers from Yokosuka!"_

The news report was loud and clear in the Kanmusu's ear. She sighed in annoyance and ordered one of her fairies in her backpack superstructure to turn down the news radio.

The brunette Kanmusu stood tall and confident. Not one scratch soiled her white and red outfit, nor her split-hull equipment. One massive triple turret sat on each half. Both of them had smaller triple turret in front. Her third turret hung on her back, behind her superstructure and funnel, pointing down.

"So inadequate," she spoke, a noble air flowed off her tongue like the finest Asian silk. "I shall request a remodel to place it in a more effective position."

Yamato pointed her closed oriental parasol forward, towards her enemies.

"Fire!"

Her guns quickly fired one barrel at a time. Shells ripped through the Shinkaisei-kan destroyers and light cruisers like nothing.

A couple minutes, or seconds, passed. Yamato wasn't sure as she uninterested continue loading and firing at the weaklings as that's all that came to the surface. It was then, a C-130 flew over her at low altitude. She noticed the rear ramp was open.

"Hey, sis!" came a shout.

Cannons fired, water splashed, and explosions sounded. Once the smoke had cleared, there, standing next to Yamato, was a tall bespectacled woman with dark skin and white hair. Even though the newcomer was basically given the same clothes as Yamato (albeit black replacing the red), she only chose to wear the skirt and a capelet.

It left very little to the imagination. The only thing covering her chest were tightly wrapped bandages that would continue to briefly spiral over her stomach and down her left leg. Her hard abs and strong arms were on display for the world to see.

Her equipment was almost the same as Yamato's, but the third turret was in a much better spot; on her right hip.

"Hello, Musashi," Yamato smiled.

"What'd I miss?" Musashi asked.

"Only a couple of destroyers and light cruisers," Yamato answered. "Hardly anything worthwhile."

"Ah, well. Let's clean up these small fry. Maybe something fun will come," Musashi grinned.

Yamato smiled in response and their 18.1 inch guns thundered, raining steel down onto their enemies.

Same as before, only destroyers and light cruisers showed up. It was possible that they also sunk a heavy cruiser, but it's not like their guns would notice the difference.

Finally, after one last barrage, the enemy stopped coming. Bodies of the Shinkaisei-kan and blue blood littered the battlefield. The two battleships stayed spotless.

"I call that done," Musashi declared. "Let's get something to eat at Mamiya's before I go back to Kure. I'm starving!"

Musashi turned around and headed to Yokosuka.

"Wait a moment, Musashi," Yamato said, holding up a hand. "Do you sense that?"

"Yeah. Battleship."

Both women looked at the water in between them. A few calm seconds passed and a white head of a Ta-class popped out of the water. The Ta-class spotted Yamato and was about to surface to challenge the super battleship.

And then Musashi kneeled down and tapped her head...

"Yo, what's up?" the bespectacled woman said, a toothy grin on her face.

The Ta-class made a face of realization. Looking away from Musashi, she uncertainly looked behind her at Yamato. Yamato was just had a gentle smile and calmly waved. The Ta-class's face contorted with a cute expression of 'I've done messed up...' and dove back to the depths.

Musashi stood back up.

"Mamiya's? My treat."

"Yes, please."

-o-

The two embodiments of the super battleships returned to the docks of Yokosuka to a crowd of cheering civilians. They spent several minutes doing a meet and greet before the crowd was ushered away. The air suddenly became quiet and calm. The only sounds that they heard were the ocean breeze, gulls, and the clicks of their heels.

"I've been thinking," Yamato began

"What's that?"

"Is there reason why command does this?"

"I'm not sure I follow," Musashi confessed, putting her arm behind her head and stretched.

"Us. Going to fight small attacks and small Shinkaisei-kan. Not very wise considering that others are capable of doing the same thing. Nagato and Mutsu could have done today's fight easily. Or any of the Kongous. Or even a pair of heavy cruisers. I, Yamato, could have done everything myself. They didn't need to literally fly you out from Kure and waste fuel while they did so. It's just not very strategic."

"You're right. It's not strategic." Musashi stretched her other arm. "But I'll tell you what it is."

"What is it?"

"PR and propaganda!"

"Serious?"

"Yep!" Musashi nodded. "Think about it, sis. The news copter, the crowds on the pier, the fact that they were _let in_ on the base. That's before mentioning that we have the prides of the Imperial Japanese Navy in here!"

Musashi fist bumped her chest with a loud _POMF!_

"It's a no wonder why they let us out so often, especially against small fry," she continued. "Just us against many of theirs. Of course, _we_ know that it is not that impressive, but they don't know any better. And that's how propaganda works. You twist and mix anything and everything until you get the message you want and 'educate' the uneducated with wrong and biased information."

"Teaching purposefully with incorrect information? That doesn't sound like the right thing to do," Yamato stated.

"Of course it isn't," Musashi said. "But this war gave me a second chance in life and that is all I care about."

"Is that the girl talking, or the ship?" Yamato teased.

"Who knows. Maybe it's both."

"Well, since we are basically Japan's Captain America, maybe we should make ourselves more distinctive," Yamato said, a playful smile forming on her face.

"We're taller than the average Japanese man, we wear the Chrysanthemum around our necks, I'm _really_ tanned, we walk on water, and I'm half naked," Musashi shrugged. "Can't get any more distinctive than that."

"Yes, well, I was thinking," Yamato suddenly grabbed two tufts of Musashi's hair. "You should tie your hair in a two side up! Make it look like you have animal ears!" Yamato giggled.

"Wha-! Hey!" Musashi exclaimed, wiping her hair back down and giving in to the mischief. "And you should have antlers!"

Musashi grabbed a pair of sticks from a nearby bush and stuck them in her sister ship's hair.

"Eep!" Yamato squealed merrily as she swiped the sticks away and took off towards Mamiya's restaurant. Musashi laughed and gave chase.

"Or maybe some anime-ish hair intakes! Make yourself look like a cat!" Musashi shouted.

"You should wear makeup!" Yamato shouted back.

This sisterly love and teasing between two former complete strangers continued all the way to Mamiya's and beyond.

* * *

 **A/N: Comedy is not really my thing so I got no idea how many laughs, giggles, smiles, or slight smirk this chapter would bring.**

 **Yamato and Musashi have not changed from their official appearance that much if at all. It's just my headcanon that Yamato is responsible for Musashi's hairstyle as Musashi is responsible for the cherry blossoms in Yamato's hair. And Yamato's third turret. It does well for symmetry, but not much else.**

 **I really shouldn't be starting another story, but I'm in need for one that I can just fool around with. I'm thinking of calling it "It's Game Time!" and just have Shipgirls running around doing various games and shenanigans. What do you all think?**

 **I'm also starting a blog. I haven't posted anything yet, but when I do, I'll leave a link in my profile for those that are interested.**

 **Anyways, I hope to see you guys and gals in the next chapter.**


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